Reworked Inuyasha
by Scarlet song Cerulean trails
Summary: The Sacred Jewel has been shattered but no one knows how, Kagome is a wolf-demon hanyou who is connected to Shippo's family, Inuyasha has never met Kikyo, and Sango & Miroku are traveling companions who are looking for a formidable demon called Naraku while collecting jewel shards to keep them from falling into evil hands.
1. 1 Miroku and Sango

**Hi everybody! This is my first fanfic ever, but I really liked my idea for it so I plucked up the courage to post the first chapter of it, and here it is! I'm always open to objective criticism and I love hearing back from peers, so if you'd like to share your thoughts please do! Feel free to PM me as well because I'd love to get to know more of you lovely people. :)**

 _Point of view change_

* * *

 _Miroku_

He gazed at the sky above him with eyes filled of daydreams about his traveling companion, the ever beautiful Sango. Miroku absently picked up his pace so that he could reach their agreed upon meeting place sooner, and be back in her enticing presence.

It didn't matter that the reason he was walking without her now as because he 'accidentally' fell on her earlier this morning and because of that she had told him to walk, no he was confident that she would have forgiven him by the time they were reunited so he had pushed it to the back of his mind in favor of more pleasant thoughts.

Distracted as he was by these thoughts, he failed to take in his surroundings until a voice cut into his dream just as a blushing Sango agreed to bear his children.

"Oi, you! Monk!"

Miroku blinked, then looked about to find himself surrounded by some of the strongest looking human bandits he'd ever seen. He blinked again, then looked at the one directly in front of him on the path.

"Can I help you, good men?"

Some of the men around him started laughing, and the one in front of him smirked dangerously.

"We know you have something very valuable on you Monk, and our boss wants it."

 _He must be talking about the sacred jewel shards!_ Miroku tensed, bringing his shakujō forward in a more defensive position while glancing about for a weakness in the bandits formation to escape through. Seeing none, he looked forward to the leader and smiled tensely.

"I am just a simple traveling monk as you can see, why would your boss think that I had anything of value?"

"I'd know he didn't say, but who cares? Even if you don't, you're still coming with us to our boss. Grab him Men!"

Miroku tried to fight them off with his shakujō but was quickly overpowered by their greater strength and numbers, white pain exploded in front of his eyes from a blow to the back of his head only have it fade into blackness as he lost consciousness.

 _Sango_

Sango and Kirara came down out of the sky from their 'scouting' flight that they had been on ever since this morning and landed at the large bend in the path where it met with a small stream. This was her arranged meeting place with Miroku, however a quick look around revealed that he wasn't there.

Sango hopped down off of Kirara's large, strong back and carefully scanned the vicinity again for the wayward monk, and seeing nothing she looked at Kirara who silently told her that she saw nothing of the monk either. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Sango cupping a hand around her mouth and called out in a loud voice into the surrounding woods.

"Houshi-sama!"

No answer came back save for the chirping of birds, and Sango's face grew worried as she turned and climbed up onto Kirara's back.

"Let's go, Kirara."

She said, gripping on tighter with her hands so that she could lean out and survey the land as they flew.

"Let's find Houshi-sama, keep your nose out for him, Kirara."

 _He should have gotten there before us, did something happen to him?_

They flew until Kirara suddenly swooped down on part of the path and landed, sniffing wildly at the ground, Sango bent forward and saw lots of different footprints and scuff marks littering the dirt path. _There was a fight here, could it have involved Miroku?_ She barely had time to think this before Kirara lept several feet up into the air and took off in a direction that cut away from the path going deeper into the woods.

 _Miroku_

Miroku woke to the jarring impact of his body hitting a hardwood floor and the smell of lots of unwashed bodies, he was laying face down with multiple hands and arms pinning him there. He lifted his throbbing head just as he heard the voice of the bandit he had spoken to on the path say.

"We got him for you, boss."

Miroku looked at the bandit then to where he was looking, as a very large man rose from the shadows of the dilapidated shrine and started almost clumsily walking towards Miroku and the men pinning him down. The boss's skin was an unhealthy pale shade, yet he carried a very large sword and didn't look to be in any kind of discomfort besides his strange walk. _Something is not right about him._

"You have jewel shards...give them to me." The boss said in a strangely emotionless voice along with a odd tilt of his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about my good man, perhaps you have mistaken me for someone else?"

Miroku tried as the boss came to stop and stood above him, death-like eyes looked down into his.

"No..mistake...you have them."

The boss raised his sword to bring it down on Miroku, when the doors of the shrine flew open so hard that part of one came off and hit the boss's sword before it could touch the monk. Sango stood in the once doorway dressed in her demon slayer armor and holding her Wakizashi, just past her Miroku could see Kirara fighting the remaining bandits outside the shrine, although it didn't look like they were much of a challenge for the large fire-neko.

"Houshi-sama!"

Sango exclaimed, snapping Miroku's eyes back to her just in time to see the relief flash across her face before it turned hard as she turned to the bandits in the shine.

"You will pay for what you've done to him."

She growled, advanced into the room with danger radiating off her.

"I would let me go if I was you."

Miroku told the men still holding him down as he watched Sango.

"Get..her...kill her."

The boss ordered while turning back to Miroku. Several of the men who were not holding Miroku down rushed at Sango, the smirks on their faces proudly revealing their smug confidence in dealing with one woman. Sango gave a furious battle cry and charged the surprised, yet still confident large men.

Turning, slashing, and blocking, the highly skilled demon slayer made quick work of the inexperienced bandits. The hands of the men holding Miroku started shaking as they watched their fellows fall before Sango's onslaught, and he couldn't help but stare at Sango's lovely form in motion until the boss's legs suddenly blocked it.

Miroku looked up as the boss's sword came down towards his head and back, only to be stopped mid stroke by Sango's sword from the firmly planted position she had sprang to when she saw what was about to happen. With a strained yet powerful cry Sango heaved the bandit boss backwards into a wooden pillar that instantly collapsed under his weight.

The hands holding Miroku down suddenly vanished as those men lost their nerve and bolted for the door, more than willing to face the demon Neko outside if it meant that they wouldn't have to face this woman.

Sango struck at the boss as he attempted to rise, scoring a deep slash across his chest and cutting off part of his armor, revealing a gaping hole in his chest where his heart should have been. A Corpse Crow's three red eyes glared out from it at them, and it attempted to flee by leaving the boss's body, but Sango was too quick for it and stabbed it as it emerged from the hole.

Sango flicked the crow's body off her sword, and the boss's body fell back, rapidly disintegrating until there was nothing left to hit the floor.

"Are you alright, Houshi-sama?"

Sango asked, unaware that Miroku had stolen up behind her until she turned and he was right where he wanted to be, close arm's length from her.

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank you enough for what you have done for me, dear Sango."

Miroku said taking her hands in his, being mindful of the sword still held by her. Sango's face flushed slightly, and he took that as an invitation to lean in closer.

"Though I can certainly think of a few things that I'm sure you would most appreciate."

He said as smoothly and suggestively as he could as he slid a hand around to her lower back and pulled her closer, guiding her sword hand to the side while keeping a firm hand of his own on it just in case her tried using it on him.

She flushed even more until that hand that he had wrapped around her slid south of her lower back, her face was still flushed then but her eyes glared daggers into him. She slapped him with her free hand and smoothly slid free of his loose hold, then stomped out of the shrine.

He waited a minute for her to calm down while he retrieved his shakujō before he left the shrine to join her, she was sitting on a old tree stump with small Kirara laying on her lap and she looked up as he walked over.

"Why did they capture you?"

"That demon controlling their boss somehow knew that I had our three jewel shards, and wanted them."

"I see..."

Sango got a thoughtful look on her face while looking down at Kirara, then looked back at him.

"If that's the case, then we must be the only ones with jewel shards in this area, otherwise it would have already been working to get the others. Which means that we'll have to head out to a new place to find some."

"I agree, I even know of a place that we may start at. There's a village somewhat near here that has a very respectable and learned priestess who may know something about how the shards came to be shattered, and where we should start in looking for more."

"That sounds like a good place to start, do you know the way to this place?"

"Though I have never been there, I have a general idea of where it is, so if you would be so kind as to-"

Sango stood as he was speaking, with Kirara leaping from her arms to change into her full sized self.

"-let us both ride on Kirara to see a greater amount of land at a time then we should find it soon."

Sango waited till he had finished speaking, then climbed onto Kirara and gestured for him to get on as well. He did, but as he settled down behind her, a quiet menacing voice of hers reached back to him.

"If you mess around I won't hesitate to push you off, understand?"

"My dear Sango, I deeply ashamed in your lack of trust in me, my intentions for now are of a purely professional nature."

Miroku said while being slightly glad that neither of them couldn't see the other's face as they rose up into the sky and set off in search of the village.

* * *

 **Please let me know what you think of it in a review, hope you enjoyed my poor beginnings!**


	2. 2 Inuyasha and Kagome

**Hi, everyone! Here's a new chapter for you all to enjoy which hopefully you will! As I asked before please review and let me know what you think about my story so far, constructive criticism is always appreciated!**

 **Also a big Thank You to _JJ_ who was this story's first reviewer! (if that's really a word...) If you review I will send you a thank you if you have an account on this site and either here or at the end of the chapter!**

 _ **Inuyasha is not mine, sadly.**_

 **Bye for now, enjoy!**

 _Point of view _

* * *

_Inuyasha_

He bounded through his large section of the forest, trees with their branches, leaves, and twigs all whizzing by him unnoticed because his mind was consumed with tracking and catching dinner. He paused as he caught the scent of a young boar and it brought a grin to his face. _Finally you've shown your head around here again you little border trotting meal._

A strong breeze blew up from the south and an unwelcome scent hit his nose like a slap to the face, wolf demon. Inuyasha snarled at the fact that his dinner would have to be put off, and turned sharply from the boar's path to the direction of the trespassing fleabag, determined to make that wolf wish that it had never been born by the time he was done with it.

As he got closer he could smell wolf blood mingled with its normal stench. _The mangy thing ain't even trying to hide that it's here, arrogant little-_ He sped up for the last minute of the distance, then exploded into the clearing that now reeked of wolf demon with a deep growl, cracking his fingers to highlight his long claws.

His eyes swept the clearing, quickly finding the wolf as its head flashed up and around to look at him from its kneeling position on the ground by the side of a small stream.

What Inuyasha saw in her dark blue eyes made him stop in his tracks; fear and sadness were there sure, but they were not what stayed his hand: it was the resignation. She could see what he had been planning to do and yet she wasn't even going to try to stop him from killing her. Her tear filled eyes told him that the world had weighed her value and found her to be worthless, she believed it now and her eyes said that she knew he must think her worthless too, for how could he not when it was so easy to see?

Her body was shaking, and she lowered her eyes as a fresh wave of tears rolled down her cheeks. Her inky black hair tumbled over her shoulders to join two separate beaded sections of her hair on either side of her face, with her bangs now hiding her eyes.

"Please.."

She said in a quiet, heart-breaking voice that reflected what he had seen in her eyes.

"..kill me quickly. I know that I don't deserve to ask this of you, but-"

Inuyasha broke from his trance and took a quick couple of strides closer.

"What the Hell are ya talking about, Wenc-"

Then he felt it, the feel of her demonic aura, coupled with what he could now smell from her by being so close, Hanyou. She was a Hanyou like him. He took another step closer just to be sure even though he knew it had to be true, his nose had never lied to him before.

He heard her sniff the air suddenly, her body tensed until she caught whatever she was smelling and then she lifted her tear-stained face up to look at him with shocked, wonder-filled eyes.

"You're...a Hanyou too."

They just stared at each other for a couple of seconds, neither of them quite believing it could true, another hanyou. She had injuries to her arms and torso, hence the blood that he smelled and the slight shrink of her body to the ground when he appeared, but they were healing quickly.

He had to fight back the blanching he felt as he studied her though, because while her wounds were healing do to her demon blood she had lost a good deal of that good red stuff if the amount causing her clothes to stick to her was any indication.

Sudden crashing sounds from the forest interrupted their sizing up and thoughts on the other, and they had barely turned to face whatever was making the noises before a large dark brown and red Centipede demon with the upper body of a naked woman came barreling out of the woods headed directly towards the girl.

"Now I'll have that shard of yours, you miserable waste of flesh Hanyou!"

It screamed as its long, hard body dived towards the girl who barely managing to throw herself backwards out of the way into the stream. Inuyasha leapt back to the edge of the clearing, unsure of what was happening because of the speed at which everything was going by. The girl Hanyou rolled through the water, then lept out of the way as the demon threw itself at her again.

As it did so the girl landed a shaky, yet still powerful kick to the Centipede's woman-like upper body, then flipped away and back onto her feet. The kick seemed to tax the girl's greatly though as she landed awkwardly and ducked under the sweeping tail end of the demon instead of jumping clear of it as she should have.

Before he could react or call a warning, the Centipede demon slammed the middle part of its long body into the stomach of the just crouched girl, and sent her flying till she struck massive tree several years away with enough force to break bones. The girl gasped in pain with some blood coming out of her mouth, then fell heavily to the ground where he heard her cough up more.

"It's mine now!"

The Centipede's woman-like mouth screamed as she swooped in for the kill.

"Sankon-tessou!"

Centipede demon gave a ragged shriek of pain as Inuyasha's claws cut through the three arms on one side of its woman torso, then she turned to him with murder in her pure red eyes.

"Another Hanyou?! How DARE you attack me filth, but if you're so eager to die then you'll be the first!"

She lunged at him, but he dodged out of the way at the last second and attacked her again.

"Sankon-tessou!"

This time he only managing to score a hit to the tail end of her before he felt something grab onto the Hitatare and Hakama of his fire rat robe, and forcefully pulling him to the ground before pinning him there. He twisted his head to see what was holding him, and his eyes went wide as he looked at the three arms that he had just severed from the demon's torso.

 _Kagome_

Blackness: deep, dark, and numbing. Nothing else existed in this darkness save her and its never ending empty expanses.

Slowly jumbled sensations began to bleed into her through the darkness: pain, loud sounds, and a sense of that her body was on hard ground. She wanted to flatten her ears against her skull to cut out the noises, but then some memories of where she was and what she had been doing came back to her in a burst of momentary clarity.

"Another Hanyou?! How DARE you attack me filth, but if you're so eager to die then you'll be the first!"

Spat the hateful voice of the Centipede Mother and causing the Hanyou to flinch in anticipation of a blow...which never came. The girl opened her eyes and frowned after a couple seconds as she processed the demon's words. _Another Hanyou? What other Hanyou, I thought that there was only-_

"Sankon-tessou!"

A male voice cried out loudly, cutting through her musings and causing a flash of memory. _The red clad Hanyou who smelled of Dog!_ She lifted her head painfully to look at what was happening to him and felt her blood freeze, he was pinned down by three severed arms of the Centipede mother as she nosedived down at him with the other three arms outstretched.

"Die half-breed!"

"NOOO!"

The girl cried as she shoved herself to her feet, despite the pain of the action and sprinted in their direction faster then she had ever run before, hands adorned with claws outstretched towards them.

She tripped on a rock in the stream bed just as she was about to attack with her claws and instead slapped both her hands flat against the woman back of the demon. She felt a flare of raw exhilarating emotion combined with a quiet power pore out of her core and into the blacked flesh and aura of the Centipede Mother, taking all the evil it found and forcibly turning it to light.

A wave of glistening pink flowed over the demon and Centipede Mother didn't even have time to scream as the pink light turned her body into charred flesh within seconds, then into dust that itself crumbled away into nothing, leaving only a very confused pair of Hanyou.

He looked at where the Centipede Mother had been, then where the three arms had held him, then to her with the unasked question of 'what just happened' clear in his bright golden eyes. She was dimly aware of her position changing as his eyes got higher than hers even though he was still sitting on the ground and had not moved, this confirmed for her by sudden weight on her knees then by the feel of grass against her right cheek as she slumped to the ground.

He moved closer to her along the ground with several emotions flashing through his eyes, one after the others so quickly that she couldn't read them, but it didn't look like he planned on hurting her. He stopped a few feet away, and cocked his head to a side while carefully studying her face with those bright, bright eyes.

"What's your name?"

She thought almost dreamily in her mind, and as such was startled to hear herself ask this out loud, her voice sounded like it was coming from a far away place as her eyes slowly started giving into the blackness that was creeping over her again. He looked shocked and flushed a bit at what was no doubt to him a strange question to be asked, he looked away to the ground at his right.

"Inuyasha."

He answered so quietly that if she didn't have such good hearing she would have missed it.

"Inu..yasha."

She repeated slowly with a slight smile on her face, eyes half closed.

"What's yours?"

His sudden and almost rough sounding question caused her to look at him one more time before her eyes closed all the way and blackness swallowed her.

"Ka..go...me."

* * *

 **Another chapter "done" please tell me what you think in a review, and feel free to PM me as I like making new friends!**

 **Until the next chapter, best wishes all! :)**


	3. 3 Kaede

**Hi, everyone! A new chapter is here for you all to enjoy! Please review and let me know what you think of it, constructive criticism is always appreciated!**

 **If you have questions about something in the story, ask it while you're leaving a review and I will either answer them for you or they will be answered 'in story', but I will let you know if they will be.**

 **Enjoy! ^-^**

 _ **Inuyasha does not belong to me, sadly.**_

 _Point of view_

* * *

 _Miroku_

A day had passed since the bandits had captured him, and they found the river Miroku said they needed to follow, but had yet to locate the village. Miroku inhaled a deep calming breath before releasing slowly it in an attempt to repress his more seductive thoughts as he sat behind Sango on Kirara.

The deep breathing was not working so well, but he had agreed to refrain from the slight actions his thoughts caused him to do because he didn't want to test whether Sango would really throw him off or not. He looked around at the ground far below them, trying to distract himself with looking for the village along the winding river below them.

"Houshi-sama?"

Sango's voice interrupted his train of thought, and he turned to look at the back of her head.

"Yes, Sango?"

"Why did you not use your Wind Tunnel on those bandits? I know that you hardly ever use it, but your life was in danger and you could have easily defeated them if you had."

Her voice was low and filled with such a loosely veiled worry for him, that it warmed his heart.

"I suppose I could have."

He lifted his covered hand from where it was holding his Shakujō in front of her waist, and stared at it while speaking.

"Have you observed how, in the few times I've used my Wind Tunnel, it has never been for very long?"

She nodded, and he couldn't help but smile slightly at that even in battle she would notice something like that.

"Well, that's because it grows every time I use it, and not only does it grow bigger when used, but its edges become less defined from my hand and my power over it weakens. Meaning that not only does it grow as I get older and when I use it, but it also means that it could expand too far, break free of my control, and suddenly start consuming me and everything around me every time I use it."

He lowered his hand back to where it had gripped his Shakujō before, and looked back at her high ponytail with a slight grin.

"I use it if I absolutely must, and only then. Also I knew that those bandits weren't going to kill me because they said they were going to take me to their boss."

He heard her intake breath to argue, so he leaned forward until his mouth was beside her right ear and whispered.

"And I knew that if I couldn't get away from them that you would come save me, my compassionate Sango."

He could see her eye widen and her right cheek turn a very pretty shade of pink at his words, but then she suddenly pointed down with a slightly shaking hand.

"Is, is that it, Houshi-sama?"

He looked down her pointing arm and saw a decently sized village with carefully tended rice fields, a large hill rose out of one side of the village with a well preserved shrine sitting atop it, just has he had heard this village to be.

"I believe it is."

Sango needed no further confirmation, and patted her faithful demon's neck fur.

"Down there, Kirara."

 _Sango_

Sango had been meaning for Kirara to set them down just outside of the village so that they could approach it as travelers coming up the path, but Kirara seemed to have other ideas, landing them in plain sight between the village and the rice fields. The villagers were predictably afraid of the demon Fire-Neko and its two riders as they touched down suddenly in their midst, interrupting the late morning routine.

"Demons!"

Many of them cried out, as the men hurried to arm themselves with whatever was at hand to try and fend off the demons inevitable attack, while the women started grabbing children.

"Wait!"

Sango called out into the crowd, as she hopped down off Kirara.

"We are not demons, and Kirara will do you no harm! The Monk and I are only here to speak with your-"

"You look like demons to me!"

One young man yelled back, drowning out the last of her words.

"Why should we believe anything you sa-"

He was cut off by a stern hit to the head from behind, and he stumbled to the side to reveal who Sango guessed to be the head priestess of the village. She looked to be in her late 50s judging by the wrinkles on her face and the stoop of her back, with her grayed hair pulled back with a white tie. She wore the traditional garb of a Miko, a white Hakui and the long red Hakama, which almost seemed to highlight the black eye patch she wore over her right eye.

"Fools! Can ya not see that they be a human Monk and, if me eye do not deceive me, a Taijiya who has befriended a demon. And she be right when she tells ya that this demon is nay going to attack ya, in fact, ye have a higher chance of me knocking some sense into ya than of that demon doing what ya fear it will."

The priestess turned her head slowly, giving all the villagers a stern unwavering look with her single eye until they dropped their gazes and begrudging started going about their normal routines again, then she walked forward to greet the visitors.

"I be Kaede, the priestess of this village. Who be ye, young travelers?"

Miroku and Sango bowed slightly to Kaede.

"My name is Miroku, Kaede-sama. I am indeed a Buddhist Monk, but not one of anywhere near your standing, Lady."

"I see."

Kaede said, as they straightened up to face her again. Kirara shrank down to her small form behind the two before jumping up skillfully to Sango's shoulder.

"My name is Sango, Kaede-sama. I am a Demon Slayer, but do not quite look like one at this time as I am not wearing my armor."

She gestured down at her normal pink Kimono and green Maekake that were clearly not made to be worn while fighting demons.

"Welcome to our humble village. Now I believe that ye came here to talk to me, so come with me and we'll talk."

The old woman turned and lead them through the village to a hut at sat at the foot of a long staircase leading up to the shrine at the top of the hill. They entered the hut after Kaede, and were soon seated around the fire pit with small cups of tea in hand.

"Why have ye come to speak with me?"

Sango and Miroku looked at each other, then Miroku spoke.

"We came hoping that you could tell us more about the Sacred Jewel, such as who had it last and what happened to it."

"We know some about the Jewel already, but nothing about the last possessor of the entire thing."

Kaede looked at Miroku and Sango as they spoke, then heaved a sigh and looked into the fire.

"Ye seek the Jewel of Four Souls, why?"

"To stop its pieces from falling into evil hands."

Sango answered instantly, with Miroku adding after she finished.

"We are also trying to locate a fearsome demon who we believe has been trying to get the power of the Jewel."

"...Do ye have any pieces of it?"

Kaede finally asked, looking up to see them both nod.

"What do ye plan to do with them?"

"Nothing but guard them from others who wish them for their own purposes."

Miroku answered quietly, with Sango nodding an affirmative as Kirara curled up on her lap. Kaede sighed again and looked back into the fire.

"As far as I know, the last person to possess the Jewel whole was a very powerful Priestess named Kikyo who is directly descended from the Priestess Hitomiko."

Both Sango and Miroku eyes widened in surprise.

"Hitomiko lived about 250 years ago, and was the most powerful Priestess of that time. So it was decided that the Jewel should be entrusted to her to protect, because no one, neither demon nor human, had ever managed to defeat her."

Sango sipped her tea, and Kaede picked up a stick to poke at the fire with.

"She fought many different creatures over the years, all of whom were trying to take the Jewel for their own, and yet nearing the time of her death there was one foe who carried out plot after insidious plot to get the Jewel. He went by many stolen names, and yet according to stories she seemed to know who he truly was and what he really looked like, even though he always appear as a different person whenever found. She died because of his scheming eventually, but not before saving the Jewel by hiding it and having a son. The Jewel was found sometime later, and has passed through many hands over the years until it came into the possession of a Taijiya who, knowing that they could not keep it safe, gave it to a powerful Priest, who then gave it to Kikyo."

A log in the fire broke, sending up a shower of bright hot sparks into the still air.

"Kikyo is a young yet very powerful Priestess, so I do not know how the Jewel came to be in the state that it be in now, but I do know that after it happened Kikyo vanished from her village and only in rumors has she been seen or heard of since."

"Do you think she still lives?"

Sango asked, her hand now absentmindedly stroking Kirara's back and head as she listened.

"According to the rumors she left to gather all of the Jewel shards and reassemble it, but I don't know if it be true. I don't know why or how it shattered, let alone if its protectorate survived whatever caused this to be."

She finally looked up at them, her face old and stern.

"However I do know that the shards must be found quickly so that they can be kept from those who would use their power for evil."

Her eye softened slightly, while her face never changed from what it's expression had been.

"Which is why I'm glad to hear the ye have decided to take up the task of working together to find them, and with ye skills ye may be able to do it."

"Thank you Kaede-sama, but while we know more about who had it and about the Jewel itself, we still don't know where to take our search from here."

Miroku said, setting his empty cup down next to Sango's on the floor in front of them.

"Ye will have a lead or idea on where ye should go from here soon enough."

Kaede took the cups and was about to fill them again when they heard a loud commotion outside the hut, towards the other side of the village. The reed mat was pulled back to reveal one of the village men who, after a slight bow to Kaede, nodded towards the commotion.

"There's a young Samurai out here asking to speak with you, Kaede-sama."

"Is there, Rikichi? How strange. Housi-dono, would ya go speak with him while I put these away?"

Miroku nodded, then followed the man Rikichi out of the hut, Sango stood to follow them but then turned back to Kaede. Waiting until Kaede had put the cups away and had turned back to face her, Sango spoke a question that had bothered her since they had first arrived.

"Kaede-sama, how did you know that I'm a Taijiya?"

Kaede looked at her and blinked.

"Ya walk like ya're trained, yet wear no vestments. Ya carry strange weapons and are obviously a warrior, and yet ya have the confidence to wear normal clothes while traveling instead of always wearing your armor. What else could ya be if not a Taijiya?"

Sango blushed slightly at the compliments from the wise Priestess as she walked past, and then followed her out of the hut to go meet the Samurai.

* * *

 **A big "Thank You" to the wonderful people who review the last chapter!**

Guest ***blushing furiously*** **Thank you so much! I'm so happy that you like it!**

JJ ***blushing furiously* I'm so flattered and happy right now that you liked it so much, my First Reviewer!**

Compucles **Thank you for so thoughtful a review, and I'm happy that you like it so far! I hope that you've seen my response to your review, but if not don't worry, all your questions will be answered "in story".**

AuramasterDJ **I'm glad that you like it so far!**

 **Review, and I will thank you too! **

**Best wishes till next chapter! ^-^**


	4. 4 Hanyou and Girl

**Hi everyone! Here's a new chapter for you to enjoy, but I have a few things to say. This story so far has had over 250 views but only 8 Reviews, which is a bit disheartening. So it would be greatly appreciated if, when you're done reading, you leave a review and just let me know what you thought of it.**

 **Constructive criticism is always appreciated!**

 **On a slightly different note, do you guys like the alternating chapters (I had plans to alternate between the two pairs for another few chapters before bringing them together as a group) OR would you guys prefer more InuxKag oriented chapters? Because it seems to me that out of the few people who reviewed, they like my InuxKag chapter more, but maybe I'm wrong and you like the MiroxSan ones just as much?**

 **Review and let me know what you want.**

 **There's some curse words in this chapter, but they're no worse that what Inuyasha says in the show.**

 **Enjoy!**

 ** _Inuyasha is not mine, sadly._**

 _Point of view_

* * *

 _Inuyasha_

"Die half-breed!"

The Mistress Centipede screamed as she dove, glistening pointed teeth first, down towards his head. He tried to move out of the way, but her severed hands held him fast to the ground with a strength that not even he could get loose from. He felt a powerful snarl surge up from inside him, it's crazed fury and murderous intent shocking him and easily passing by his inner confines as the Mistress Centipede's teeth flashed right above him.

"NOO!"

The girl Hanyou's voice rang out in a strange mix of fear, desperation, and something else that he couldn't decipher, instantly halting the inner fury at its sound.

Suddenly she was there, up behind the Mistress Centipede with her claws ready, blue eyes filled with determination...that warped into surprise as she tripped on something and fell, slapping her hands flat against the demon's back as she did. Pink light flooded out from her hands, surrounding, engulfing, and distorting the demon so that within seconds she was completely gone, severed hands and all.

 _There's no demon smell, no dust or even powder of it left, no hands either._ He sat up while looking down at himself, the only evidence of the fight with Mistress Centipede was the creases in his clothes from where he had been grabbed and held down. Inuyasha looked up at the girl Hanyou who had somehow caused this complete and total destruction of her foe, and blinked as his mind tried to process what he had just seen. _What the Hell just happened?_

She was staring at him with relief coming from her dark brown eyes as she looked him over quickly, and it took him a second to register that she was checking to see if he was hurt. That realization hit him just as her trembling, exhausted body gave out on her, and she fell to her knees then toppled onto her right side, still staring at him.

His first instinct was to lunge out and catch her when he saw her start falling, but his mind screamed at him. _Did you not just see what happened to that other demon?! Don't touch her, idiot!_ So he watched her fall, yet no pain appeared in those dark eyes as the relief melded into a kind of soft happiness at that he was truly fine.

He blinked at her, emotions started tumbling through him so fast that his thoughts couldn't keep up. _She's glad that I'm not hurt, when just minutes ago I was going to kill her? And then that scream, was she worried about me? How could that be? Why should she care? She could have used that time to make her getaway, not help me._ He suddenly became aware that he was slowly moving closer to her, and immediately stopped himself. _Why does she care?_

"What's your name?"

Her gentle tone jerking him out of his thoughts, and his eyes widened at her. _My..name? She wants..to know...MY name?_ He felt his face heat up and he couldn't look at her anymore. Nobody had asked for his name in years, with all of the people or demons he encountered having always settled for 'Hanyou', 'Filth', or 'Half-breed'.

"Inuyasha."

He answered quietly and tensed, waiting for some kind of comment about how creative his parents had been with his name, or what kind of lame half-ass demon was he suppose to be, or just...something...predictable. Something that would put her in with everyone else he had met since his mother died, they treated him how a Hanyou should be.

"Inu..yasha."

She repeated in such a soft way that his eyes instantly snapped over to her face to see a slight smile on it, her eyes half closed. He felt his face flush even more at this and almost as a knee-jerk reaction demanded her name even though he could see she was losing consciousness. Her eyes had almost closed, but fluttered open just enough to look at him before sliding fully closed.

"Ka..go...me."

 _Kagome._ He thought, leaning a bit closer to her as she passed out, his mind telling him that it was safer now that she couldn't do anything to him. _She was pretty badly hurt when the stupid Centipede threw her against that tree, but if her demon blood is anything like mine she'll be healed up soon._ Despite these confident thoughts he bent his head slightly closer to inhaled her scent just to check how bad the wounds really were, then froze.

Most of the blood that he could smell on her was her Hanyou blood, but he was now starting to smell human blood as well.

 _What the Hell?_ He inhaled again and there was no mistaking it, while most of the blood smelled of Hanyou, Kagome herself now smelled human. He pulled away from her and leaned back until he fell into a sitting position. _What happened? I KNOW that she was a Hanyou when we were fighting the Centipede demon because of her aura and the fact that she went to attack it with her claws._

He glanced down at her closest hand, confirming for himself that she was indeed a human when he was saw the flimsy nails at the ends of her fingers instead of claws.

 _If she's a human now than that means that she can't be healed by her demon blood, and that means that unless I do something, she'll bleed out or be killed by some random demon who smells her while wandering near my border._ He looked at her face, his mind replaying the way she had spoken his name. _A human doesn't have the power to do what she just did to the Centipede, that had to have been a demon ability of hers, right?_

He scoffed at himself.

 _Who are you trying to fool, eh?! That couldn't have been a demon power, it felt too...light, yeah light. Too light and clear to be demon power, so that leaves us with something weird and dangerous that made every fiber of our being want to run away as fast as possible, AND it means that we have no idea how this power works or how to defend against it._

 _But Kagome attacked the Mistress Centipede when she had me pinned down, instead of running off when she had a golden opportunity to do so._ He slowly reached out a hand towards her shoulder. _Plus that weird power of hers didn't do anything to me when she used it on the Centipede, which means that she didn't want whatever happened to her to happen to me as well, right? I don't think she had planned to use it on me, even when I was going to attack her earlier._

He tensed, his right hand twitching with the instinct not to do this, and he touched her shoulder gingerly. Nothing happened, so he placed his whole hand on it and still nothing happened to him.

He released the breath that he didn't realize he'd been holding, closing his eyes in relief then opening them to look around the clearing. Nighttime was approaching judging by the darkening of the forest around them, a breeze shook the trees leaves, and the babble of the stream seemed to change into dark mutterings. A sudden picture of this girl just laying here, injured and in her human form, vulnerable to whatever things skulked in the dark, appeared in his mind and made it up for him.

Inuyasha crouched next to her and gently picked her up in his arms, one under her knees and the other bent to support her back. He shifted her a bit to make her head fall against his chest, not wanting it to flop back and make her look like she was dead. He stood up, turning in the direction of the only cave that he knew was nearby and took off through the forest.

He made bounded through the now black and fading orange of the forest, to the field of tall grasses that practically hid the vegetation covered cave at the far end. He lept through the field in two large leaps, pausing only to smiff at the entrance of the cave to be sure nothing had taken up residence there since the last time he used it. Sensing nothing amiss, Inuyasha entered and walked down the steep grass covered interior of cave till he got to the moss covered bottom of it where he laid her down.

He took a deep inhale to determine if any of her wounds were still bleeding, and a couple of them were lightly, but he had no bandages or healing herbs to treat them with. He stood, staring down at the red-stained girl.

 _I know that I smelled a village around here, they're bound to have some of the stuff I need to treat her wounds so she won't die before she turns back._ Inuyasha was at the cave entrance in a flash, carefully checked the breeze to see if it would reveal the location of the village, and to be sure that there were no demons just waiting around to attack Kagome as soon as he left.

Sensing no demons or other dangers to Kagome, Inuyasha left for the village which was not very far at all for the set on top speed Hanyou. He arrived at a forested edge of the village just as the last traces of sunset started dimming into the dark sky, and most of the villagers were either inside their huts or were heading in them.

Inuyasha crept along the blacked edge of the forest, sniffing for the scent of healing herbs. Till he found a great concentration of them to be in a hut at the foot of a long staircase, set going up the hill at one end of the village.

Getting as close as he could, he determined that there was no one inside. So with a smirk of victory he shot across the open ground from the forest to the hut and was inside within seconds. He immediately started going through the different jars and pots of herbs. _Some of these smells I recognise because of mother, but I don't know...is this something you treat wounds with or was this for fever? Or how 'bout this one, it smells bad enough to tend wounds with..._

He frowned at the different pots of herbs, then he spotted a bit of red out of the corner of his eye and, curiosity peaked, opened the larger box that it was in. He pulled out a long red Hakama then a white Haori, and saw other white clothes that he judged to be underclothes still in the box. _These look like women's clothes and Kagome does need new ones..._

He took them out and set them on the floor, before turning to start rifling through the folded collection of different sized bandages by the herbs, trying to guesstimate how many of them he'd need for Kagome.

His ears suddenly caught the sound of a step outside and a hand gripping the woven hanging mat in the doorway. _Damn all these herbs, they're messing with my sense of smell!_ He spun to face whoever it was and came face to face with an old woman.

She only had one eye and the other was covered by a black thing, she was stooped with age and wore an only slightly surprised expression as she saw him. He growled threateningly at her hoping it would make her leave so that he wouldn't have to do anything to her, but she didn't budge from her place just inside the doorway.

She stared at his face, then looked at his right hand that was holding some of her bandages in it. Her face softened slightly and she blinked back up at his still growling face.

"Who be the bandages in ye're hand for?"

Inuyasha blinked, body stiffening as he tried to hide his surprise at her question.

"What makes ya think that they're for someone else, old hag?"

He scoffed out at her, only to get a slight narrowing of her eye at his choice of words and tone.

"Ye are nay injured but ya have blood on ya, and ye're trying to take some of me bandages and herbs."

"Well maybe I just wanted some, huh, didn't think of that did ya?"

She gave him a deadpan look.

"Ya're a half demon, what would ya be needing such paltry human healing things for yerself when ya can be healed by yer demon blood from even the most grievous of wounds?"

"Hey! I never said that I was a Hanyou, what makes ya think I'm one?! Maybe I'm just a kind of demon you've nev-"

"I can feel yer demonic aura, and no demon that I've ever come across has felt like ya. That be how I know. Now who be the bandages for?"

Inuyasha looked down at the bandages in his hand and then at the clothes he had put on the floor. _I could keep arguing with this old bat and win, or I can suck it up and get Kagome what she needs. I don't know what all this herbs do, but this one must since she smells like this hut._ He snarled internally at himself, then lowered his ears slightly and kept his eyes fixed on the clothes.

"They're for a girl that was attacked by a demon..."

He heard the old one intake breath in a slight gasp.

"A human girl? Do ya know what demon did it? How-"

Her cautious question had his head and eyes up in an instant.

"It wasn't me if that's what you're thinking!"

"Of course it was nay ye! I've never heard of a demon caring for a victim of theirs before, so why would ye? Where be she, and why did ye nay bring her here in the first place if ya knew there to be a healer here?"

He looked down at the bandages in his clawed hand.

"It's complicated."

After a moment, he lifted his eyes to hers again.

"I didn't think to bring her here because I didn't know what would happen, alright?! I just need ya to give me some herbs and stuff so that I can fix her up."

"Absolutely not."

She walked by a shocked Hanyou to start shifting around the jars and pots on the sleeves behind him.

"Whatta mean NO!?"

He demanded, whirling around to snarl in her face while brandishing one of his clawed hands.

"What I mean is that ye're nay going by yerself because it sounds to me that she be needing a healer who knows what they be doing, and not just a good intentioned yet inexperienced Hanyou. Now what are her injuries, and how bad be they?"

He blinked, and pulled back away from her while lowering his hand. Confusion clear in his eyes.

"Well? We nay have all night!"

He blinked again, then shook his head to clear it.

"Injuries..Well she had..."

* * *

 **Thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter!**

Lindaminina37 **Thank you, I'm glad that you like it so far! I hope that you liked this InuxKag chapter!**

JJ **Thank you, JJ! I'm so happy that you reviewed my story again, your consistency really helps me know that someone cares about this story! :)**

Katerina Salvet ***blushes* Aww! Thank you, I'm glad that you like it!**

 **Leave a review and I'll thank you too!**

 _ **Remember let me know which pair you've liked so far and would like to read more of while leaving a review!**_

 **Best wishes till next time!**


	5. 5 Friends?

**Hi everyone! Here's a new chapter for you all to enjoy, and even review maybe? 4 reviews is the record of reviews for a single chapter so far, and it would mean a lot to me if you could help set a new one.**

 **I'm also toying with the idea of having an Inuyasha character answer your reviews, are you interested? If you are, leave a review and let me know who you want to be the review answer-er (whom ever has the most "review votes" will be the one answering your reviews. If you are NOT interested, then review and say "no thanks, I like having you answer them yourself".**

 **Constructive Criticism and Questions are always appreciated!**

 **Enjoy!**

 _ **Inuyasha is not mine, unfortunately.**_

 _Point of view_

* * *

 _Inuyasha_

After collecting all the bandages and herbs that they thought they would need, the one that he now knew was a Priestess was packing them into a bag when she paused, her eyes resting on the red and white clothes from the box laying on the floor. She reached out her hand and picked them up slowly, then she looked at Inuyasha who was staring at the clothes having just remembered that he wanted those for Kagome.

"Why did ye get this out?"

She asked sternly, her eye narrowed in anger. He blinked at the sudden change in her tone, then frowned.

"The girl needs new clothes, and I sure as Hell don't have any I can give her. Besides, I can tell nobody's worn that in quite sometime so it's not even like it would inconvenience you, ya can't even fit into it."

She looked down at the clothes in her hands and sighed.

"Ye're right, no one's worn this in quite sometime."

Inuyasha frowned even harder at the saddened Priestess, then marched over to her and snatched the folded clothes out of her loose grip. Her surprised face shot up to look at him as he tucked them into the front folds of his Hitatare.

"Good, now they can be of use again."

He turned away and was in front of the door in a flash, looking back over his shoulder as her.

"Well come on! That girl's not going to get any better with you just sitting there."

She nodded and stood creakily. Both left her hut, hurrying through the dark, quiet village as quickly as they could given the Priestess's age and the occasional detour they had to take to avoid an out late villager. inuyasha predictably reached the edge of the village first and he could not wholly suppress his growl of frustration at how long it was taking the old one to move. _With the speed she's bumbling along at Kagome will have bled out by the time we get there._

As soon as the Priestess reached him, he crouched down with his back facing her and growled over his shoulder.

"Get on, with the speed you move at she'll be dead before we make it back to her."

The Priestess stared at him, then very tentatively walked over and boarded him, muttering things like 'see how quick ye are when ye're as old as I be' and saying a bit louder what she would do to him if he dropped her.

He straightened up and bounded off towards the cave, smirking at some of her threats and rolling his eyes at others as he couldn't see this woman being able to hurt him even if she tried.

They arrived at the cave, and as Inuyasha trotted down the steep incline the old woman on his back gasped. She was off his back the instant he crouched down, and hurried over the Kagome's limp form. She swung the large herb bag off her shoulder and pulled out a set of round wooden bowls, turning she held out the largest one to Inuyasha.

"Take this and fill it with clean water from the river, while I begin working on the girl."

Inuyasha nodded and took the bowl, but his eyes said in no uncertain terms that he didn't like taking orders from a human. He raced up the slope and once free for the overhang, bounded off towards the river.

He did a quick check of the surrounding woods for demons while he was out, then after filling the bowl he carefully ran back to the cave congratulating himself on how much water was still in it by the time he got back.

"Here's your water, Granny."

He announced as he reached the level bottom of the cave.

"Put it there."

She gestured to a spot next to the laid out herbs and bandages with her head, eye never leaving her task of grinding up some horrible smelling mixture of some herbs in another smaller bowl. Inuyasha put the water bowl down, then retreated to part of the wall at the beginning of the slope up and sat with his back against the wall.

"How bad is she?"

"I do not know yet, but ye should evert ye're eyes as I be about to look and I dinnae think that she'd want ya to see her so indecent."

Inuyasha felt the sudden flush of heat to his cheeks and he quickly turned his face to the side, eyes closed and nose upturned.

"Keh, who want to see that anyway!?"

The Priestess made no reply, and he could hear the soft sound of cloth rustling against skin that was all too frequently for him accompanied by the sounds of stiff cloth being peeled off the skin that it had been stuck to by her blood.

He pressed his ears against his head, as he had never liked that particular sound. It made him want to run away, but he understood the vulnerability of a half-demon's human time and as such didn't want to leave Kagome in the complete mercy of this other human, no matter how kind she may seem.

He had no idea how long he sat there for while the Priestess worked on cleaning, treating, and dressing Kagome's wounds, but he did know that not all of them were just from the two fights that she had with the Mistress Centipede.

Some of them smelled older than what he presumed to have been Kagome's first fight with the bug before he showed up, but he knew that the bulk of the damage was inflicted from hitting the tree in the second fight and maybe some from whatever happened to turn her human. _But what caused them?_

He puzzled about these many mysteries, until his thoughts were interrupted by the Priestess shifting back from Kagome and towards him holding out a hand.

"I'll be needing those clothes ya have for her now."

He blinked, then pulled them out from his Hitatare and handed them to her. Trying his hardest the ignore the fact that, in looking at the Priestess to hand her the clothes he could see a bandaged but otherwise pretty much naked Kagome in his peripheral vision. He looked away as soon as the clothes were out of his hand, again feeling the flush of heat on his face as he could hear the rustling of the cloth against Kagome's skin and bandages as the clothes were put on.

"There, that be all I can do for her now."

The Priestess said softly before standing with popping creaks coming from her stiff cramped body, she bent down and repacked the herb bag before turning to him.

"The sun will be up before long and if ye want this place, girl, and yerself to be unknown to the villagers then ye'll need to take me back before they rise."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to start arguing that she needed to stay until Kagome woke up, but when he caught a wiff of Kagome's demon blood slowly returning. A thought occurred to him, he didn't want this human to know that the thing she had just saved was a Hanyou because who knows what she would blab or do then. So he closed his mouth and crouched down to carry her back to the village without a word, and as soon as she was on they were out of the cave.

 _Kagome_

Kagome opened her eyes slowly, the fiery pain of her entire body as her demon blood rushed to heal it the only thing her mind was able to process, until one small thought surfaced.

 _It happened again, Mama._

Kagome's eyes finally focused on the stone and dirt roof above her.

 _I purified that demon._

She finally processed that she was not where she last remembered being and looked around quickly. She was in a small dark cave, with the exit to the outside world high above her at the top of a very steep grassy slope.

She started to panic, eyes darting about as she desperately tried to force her body to get up despite knowing that she was still too injured. Her clawed fingers twitched down by her sides, then dug into the rough woven mat beneath her, her ears flicking this way and that as she listened for movement around her.

 _Where am I?! What happened? How did I get here? What-_ She had been struggling to get into a sitting position but she froze as a familiar scent hit her nose, and she lay back down quietly trying to place it.

It was a very warm and rich smell, reminding her of tree bark and the way the earth smells in the rain. _I've smelled this before._

 _I remember collapsing by a small stream while fleeing that losing fight with the Centipede Mother thing, the smell of the cool water and exposed earth compared to me and my sweat and blood covered self. The differences between us were all there, my disgusting self having fled them in their time of need while the rest of the world remained providing to its own._

 _There! That's when I smelled it, red...red...dog?_

Kagome blinked, then it all come back to her in a rush of memories, the dog Hanyou stopping from hurting her, the shape of red pined to the ground, him talking to her...His surprised face expression when she asked his name, it all came back so quickly that she gasped.

 _How could I have forgotten?!_ She inhaled deeply to calm herself, then blushed madly when she realized that the scent was coming from the clothes she was wearing. _Why do I smell of him?_ She glanced down at herself then realised that she was wearing completely different clothes. _Did he...change my clothes?!_

She snapped her gaze away from herself and lay there, staring up at the roof of the cave in mortification while trying to think. She took a deep breath, flushing again at his scent but this time smelling something else as well, a human scent.

It was hard to pick out because of the strong odor of healing herbs in the air, but she could make out the smell of a old human woman, and judging from the greatest concentration of the scent she had been right next to her for quite some time. Kagome lifted her head with a wince, and sniffed at the air in the cave. He had sat over there by that wall for quite some time, she looked back at where the woman had been. _What does this all mean? Why did he bring me here?_

She looked down at herself again trying not to blush, then blinked. _Miko clothes? Where did he get Miko clothes from?_ Fear hit her harder than that tree had.

 _Does he know and that's why I'm wearing these? He saw me purify that demon and demons hate Miko, so is he planning on doing something to me now that he's put this together?! I can't stop him unless I use my purification touch, and what if he's like me and it doesn't work?! I might pass out again if I use it and he could still kill me even if he was just a human! What do I do?!_

She suddenly felt a shard quickly approaching the cave, then heard the sound of something land in the grass just out of view at the top of the cave. She froze, her ears quivering with the effort of trying to hear what it was. It appeared at the cave entrance, then before she could really see what it was, it leaped down the slope to land a few feet away from her. She snarled at it, but she thought the snarl sounded weak even to her ears.

"Oi! Quit your growling, Wench. It's just me."

Kagome forced herself to sit up, wincing slightly as she did so, but she couldn't stand to be laying on the ground while talking to a standing person.

"Where am I?"

"A cave obviously, where else could you be?"

He looked at her like she was stupid and his posture was tense, like he was ready for something.

"Why am I here?"

"Cause you were hurt and had somehow changed into a human after what you did to that Mistress Centipede. What do-"

"Centipede mother."

Kagome interrupted, causing Inuyasha to stop mid sentence and blink at her.

"Whadda say?"

"The demon's name was Centipede mother, not Mistress Centipede."

"What are you talking about, of course that's her name! She's been stalking at the edge of my territory for years, I think I know what her name is, Wench!"

"That's NOT what her name was! I heard another bug-centipede-demon-thing call out to her by 'Centipede mother' which is distinctly NOT Mistress Centipede!"

"What makes you think that this thing had a higher chance of knowing her name than me, huh?!"

"Because it was the same kind of thing as her!"

"I was an enemy of hers!"

Kagome's angry face went blank, and she blinked at him.

"How does that even matter?"

Her curiosity at what his answer would be and her desire for him to actually _give_ her that answer was stronger than her desire to win.

"Because demons always seem to announce their names before fighting something!"

Inuyasha yelled, then blinked at her.

"Haven't you noticed that before?"

"That they always say their names? No."

"Well they do! And since I've fought her before I know what her name is, it's Mistress Centipede, not Centipede mother."

He crossed his arms over his chest for emphasis, and she cocked her head to the side.

"Sure, sure, if you say so. But why were we even arguing about that in the first place?"

He got a thoughtful look on his face, and plopped down where she had smelled him sitting before, which reminded her of the other smells.

"Inuyasha."

He looked at her with some surprise on his face, like he had expected her to forget his name or something.

"Why had a human been here?"

"Oh her, well I brought her here to patch you up because I didn't know when you'd turn back."

He suddenly looked like he remembered something at the way his eyes widened, and reached into the front of his Hitatare pulling out a tiny red drawstring bag which Kagome instantly recognized as the little bag she kept her jewel shard in.

"Here. The old hag had it but it smells like you, so I took it back."

Her hand shook as she reached out and took it from him. _If he knew what he was holding, would he give it back to me?_

* * *

 **Thank you to all those who reviewed last chapter!**

JJ **Ah, JJ. Would it truly be an Inuyasha & Kaede friendship if he _didn't_ treat an old woman thus? XD**

Mastodonbrawler365 **Thank you for your kind words and typed answer to my Q. Don't worry, there'll be plenty of InuxKag chapters coming! ;)**

Guest ***blushing furiously* Thank you so much, I'm so happy that you like it! As for your question, yes I'm planning on bringing them all together because I love their friendships with each other too much not to, but we're still got quite a bit of chapters to go yet before that happens.**

lindaminina37 **Thank you so much, I love hearing that someone other than me is excited for this story's updates!** **Don't worry about how long it takes you to get around to reading these chapters, just let me know what you think of it when you do! :)**

Leave a review and I'll thank you too!

 **Best wishes till next time!**


	6. 6 Terror and Toad part 1

**Hi Everyone!**

 **It's the story's first part-er (is that even a word?), so hopefully you all like it! I love writing this story, and it makes me so happy to see that an ever growing about of people love this story too! Thank you to all of you who have reviewed thus far and a thank you to those who have just read it, your reviews and views truly matter to me! I have a very hard time finding time to write with all my college work and your words really do help on the rough days, so thank you friends.**

Constructive Criticism and Questions are always appreciated!

 **Enjoy the new chapter!**

 _Inuyasha is not my masterpiece._

 _Point of view_

 **-X- a later point in time**

* * *

 _Sango_

Kaede and Sango walked through the village and over to where Miroku was standing talking to a young looking man, who Sango could tell just by looking at him that he was not an experienced Samurai.

He was shorter than Miroku, with short black bangs and hair tied up into a high ponytail to frame his kind looking face. He was wearing a light purple Shitagi, even though she could see that he was not wearing armor, with a dark blue patterned Hakama over it. A matching blue obi is tied over his clothes holding his katana, with a pair of worn zōri on his feet.

"Good day to ye, Samurai. I heard that ye wished ta speak with me."

Miroku and the young Samurai turned to the two women, and a polite smile appeared on the young man's face.

"Yes, Priestess, I do. I'm on a mission you see, and I'm trying to find a castle that should be around here somewhere."

"So ya're lost, is that it?"

The man flushed slightly, then cleared his throat into his fist.

"Yes, Priestess. I was hoping that you might be able to tell me where I may find Castle U-"

Kaede held up a hand to silence him.

"There is nay castle around here, and the closest one be about a five days journey north if ye be a fast walker. But ye'd best not walk that way alone, because to get there ye have to go through Inuyasha's forest."

"Is...is that some kind of dangerous demon then, this Inuyasha?"

"...It'd just safer if ya had some strong company for that part of the journey."

Kaede turned her head to look at Miroku and Sango.

"Perhaps ye two would be interested in going through the forest with him?"

Both Sango and Miroku looked surprised at her for suggesting this, then they looked at each other.

"That depends on what your business at the castle is."

Miroku said evenly, turning to fully face the Samurai.

"We will be no part of any bloodshed, nor political aspirations."

"Oh no, it's nothing like that!"

The man said, hastily shaking his head. He looked around to see if any other villagers were still paying attention to their conversation, which almost none of them were as the novelty of the Samurai had worn off, and leaned in a bit closer.

"There are rumors that have reached my Lord's ears of the lord in the nearby castle having gone mad, so he has asked me to investigate to see if it's true or not."

"Why would your Lord care if this other lord went mad?"

Miroku inquired, voicing the question that Sango had just opened her mouth to ask.

"My Lord recently gave one of his daughters to this lord in marriage, and is very concerned about her safety if this is true."

Miroku nodded sagely with his eyes closed in what Sango recognized as feigned thought.

"A very noble cause indeed, saving a young Princess. I think that we should not only escort this man through the forest, but up to the castle itself. Just to be sure that he gets the information he needs, of course."

Sango gave Miroku's now very innocent expression a hard searching look, before slowly turning back to the Samurai.

"What do these rumors say?"

"Some say simply that he's gone mad, others say that he's possessed by an evil spirit, and a few even think that this is the work of a powerful demon."

Sango's eyes widened, and she looked at Miroku while speaking in a low voice.

"A powerful demon? Do you think that it could have a shard than, Houshi-sama?"

"It is a possibility...making it another good reason to go on this noble quest of his."

Miroku responded although Sango didn't hear that last part of his comment, because if she had she would have given him a nice sized lump on the head.

"We could even cut down a portion of the travel time by riding on Kirara."

Sango said looking up thoughtfully, then she looked back at the Samurai and nodded.

"Alright, we'll accompany you at least as far as the other side of the forest."

Kirara leaped off Sango's shoulder while transforming into her large form, no doubt preparing herself for the journey that they had just agreed to. Sango looked expectantly at the young man, but waited patiently till he got over his initial reactions to witnessing Kirara's somewhat frightening change.

"What's your name?"

He shook himself out of his shock, and smiled the same smile that he had been wearing when she first saw him.

"Nobunaga, Amari."

 **-X-**

They flew over a good portion of Inuyasha's forest without any trouble, and walking through the rest of it proved uneventful as well.

Nobunaga insisted that they stop at every village that they came to after they left the forest, so that he could question the people about the rumors as they got closer to the castle. At first there was nothing very specific or informative, just your general 'I heard it from my cousin's friend' kind of thing. However the closer they got to the castle, the more a disturbing pattern began emerging in their talks to the villagers.

"Are you sure, here too?"

Nobunaga asked an old woman from the nearest village to the castle they had found yet.

"Oh, here was probably one of the first places to suffer the loss of our young women as we live so close. Our Lord only recently started having his men take our girls away to his castle, with no reason given to us, and none of them have returned yet."

All the villages within a 20 mile radius had no young women who were not already married, and in the closest ones, even the young married ones had been taken. More and more rumors of the Lord having been possessed or turned into a demon were whispered to them by the progressively frightened villagers as they got closer and closer to their destination.

"There's definitely some odd happening here, and I feel that it's the work of a demon."

Miroku said during the flight on Kirara that had finally put them in sight of the castle.

"I agree."

Sango said with a nod, eyes fixed on the castle as Kirara drifted down so that they could walk the last mile or so of the distance.

 _Miroku_

"Aren't you glad we came along with you."

Miroku had teased Nobunaga as they neared their destination, but now that they stood at the foot of the outer castle wall, no one was joking. The sky was darkening rapidly, and the air was thick with demonic presence that hung over the castle like a dark fog. They all stood silently for a few seconds, deep in their own thoughts until a guard called out to them from atop the outer perimeter wall.

"Who goes there?!"

Nobunaga moved to answer but was stayed by Miroku's hand on his shoulder, before the monk called up.

"Three weary pilgrims, we ask for sanctuary for the night within the fine lord's protected grounds."

"..What is your troop comprised of?"

Came back a somewhat hesitant question from the guard, Sango and Miroku exchanged surprised and somewhat suspicious looks at this strange question.

"Two men and a woman."

Miroku replied after a couple seconds, purposefully not including Kirara. There was no response from the guard for several minutes, and Miroku was about to call up to him again when a new voice shouted.

"I'm sure my Lord would like to meet with the woman, and says that her companies must wait for her outside."

The gate in front of them opened, and several heavily armed guards appeared.

"You may not have-"

Nobunaga started, but was interrupted by Sango whispering to him.

"Wait!"

She raised her voice slightly so that Miroku could hear her as well.

"This could be a good opportunity for us to get inside. I'll deal with the guards and let you two in, then we can all find and defeat the demon."

Miroku sighed heavily, then nodded to her.

"Be careful, Sango."

She nodded slightly, then walked over to the guards who took her inside while closing the gate with a thud behind themselves.

'Why did we let her go in with them? Women have been vanishing from all over the countryside into this castle and you let her walk in by herself?!"

Miroku gazed steadily at the gate that Sango had just vanished through and answered quietly.

"I am well aware of what has been happening, as is Sango. However, she is right about this being a good opportunity for us to enter this castle, because what chances do you think that we would have to enter if we told them who we really are? I'm curtain that this castle is under the control of a demon and do you think that it would let in a Monk, a Samurai ordered to take back the Princess of this place, and a Taijiya? No, the best way is for Sango to enter and open this door for us. Right, Kirara?"

The little form of Kirara was now perched on the Monk's right shoulder and had been staring up at the castle wall tops with an unreadable expression, then hearing the inquiry looked at Miroku and mewed.

 _Sango_

Sango entered the castle grounds with two guards flanking either side of her, armored and carrying spears. She was just about to quickly disable the two closest ones, when a strange light blue mist came rolling out of the castle's main house and with unnatural speed covered the grounds. Sango's mask with out in a flash, but even as she called out a warning to the men around her while fastening it they were already falling to the ground.

Sango scanned the castle's grounds, but saw no sign of what was responsible for the mist. So still keeping a wary eye out she back-tracked to the main gate, and by the time she got there the mist had almost fully dissipated in the darkness. The gate's sliding bar lock was quite large and heavy, even for the strong Demon-Slayer, so that by the time she got it out of the way there was no trace of the blue mist anywhere.

She pushed open the gate and was greeted by a relieved looking Miroku.

"Ah, Sango! I'm glad to see you're alright, but why do you have your mask on?"

"There's definitely a demon here. As soon as it was completely dark out and the gate was closed, a strange blue mist came out of the main house and did something to the guards."

Sango explained to the two men, her voice having a slight echo sound to it from within the mask.

"I think it just put them to sleep, but I didn't see the demon and I don't know if it is fully aware that we're here yet."

"So it could be quite dangerous from here on out."

Miroku finished thoughtfully while leaning on his shakujō, both looked at Nobunaga who blinked back at them and a couple seconds later processed their unspoken words.

"I'm not scared! I must rescue Princess Tsuyu no matter what!"

Both kept straight faces as he looked at them, then Sango whispered to Miroku as Nobunaga started regaling his Lord's orders to them again for the hundredth time.

"I think he's scared."

"Still, one must commend his loyalty and devotion to the task."

Miroku whispered back as Kirara jumped from his shoulder to Sango's.

"If you are not scared, then let us begin."

* * *

 **I love to know how I'm doing, so a big Thank You to all those who reviewed the last chapter!**

Sailor Rain **I'm so glad that you're liking the story so far, and yes I do plan on bringing the group together. That's still quite a while away though, and as for if they'll be friends or if they'll fight...we'll just have to wait and see! ;)**

Layla347 ***blushes* Thanks, Layla!**

Lindaminina37 ***blushes furiously* Aww, you're such a sweetheart thank you! Don't worry about it, just keep on reading and letting me know what you think of it. :)**

 **A moment of silence to mourn/ponder the loss of** JJ and the others **who have reviewed the other chapters but have been strangely silent, I hope you guys are doing alright and will be back soon!**

Leave a review and I'll thank you too!

 **Best wishes till next time!**


	7. 7 Kagome and Yura part 1

**Hi everyone!**

 **There were so many reviews and views for the last chapter that I'm doing a happy jig up in the clouds, Thank you so much friends! As I said before, I've been having trouble finding time to write because of all the college-work that I have to get done because we only have 2 and a half weeks left! I grin like a fool every time I see a new review and do something silly and anime esque, like falling back on my bed and squealing when I see how many people have viewed the story since I last looked at it. Thanks for making my day just by reading and telling me your thoughts on it.**

Constructive Criticism and Questions are always appreciated!

 **Enjoy the new chapter!**

 _Inuyasha is not mine to take credit for._

 _Point of view_

 **-X- a later point in time**

* * *

 _Kagome_

Kagome quickly hid the little red bag inside her white Haori, then picked at the little red string threaded through the end of her sleeve nervously. She could feel his eyes on her and she opened her mouth to ask about what had been weighing heavily on her mind since she woke, but chickened out at the last second and closed it again. This happened several more times until she heard him give a loud, exasperated sigh.

"If you have something to say then spit it out, Wench. You look like a trout with your mouth opening and closing like that."

She blushed in embarrassment and irritation and closed her eyes.

"I do have a name you know, so why don't you try using it? It's not like it's hard to remember, Ka-go-me."

"So? What's that got to do with anything? Because I _know_ that that can't be the reason you were flapping your jaws before."

Kagome's blue eyes were open in an instant, blazing her growing feelings of irritation at him.

"What do you mean, 'what's that got to do with anything?' I have a name and I want you to use it!"

"You want me to, what?! Why the hell does it matter what I call you as long as it's not Hanyou, Half-breed, Filth, or another thing else like that?"

She looked down at the ground suddenly, and said in a much quieter voice.

"Because I would think that you of all people would be able to understand how important a name is."

A heavy silence fell upon the cave and she could tell that he wasn't looking at her anymore. After what felt like an eternity she dared to look up at him through her bangs, only to find him looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Both looked away instantly, but the silence and unasked question was too much for Kagome to take anymore.

"Umm, Inuyasha...about that human who was here, did she-"

"No, she doesn't know you're a Hanyou."

Kagome blinked up at him, with surprise in her eyes.

"I brought her here while you were still human and took her away again when I sensed you were starting to change back, so that way she can't tell anyone."

"Oh...thank you."

Kagome was so surprised that she didn't know what to say. _Is that what he thinks is bothering me?_ She tried to finish what she had been going to say again, but chickened out, _again_.

"You..you said that she patched up my injuries, r-right?"

"Yeah..."

He answered with the beginnings of a question starting to form in his voice.

"So-so where did these clothes come from?"

"The ones you're wearing?"

He asked with a slight cock of his head, she nodded.

"They're from the Priestess, healer's place. I took them because your flimsy clothes were really messed up and I found some there that looked like they would fit ya."

 _How would he know if they'd fit me?_ She blushed but forged ahead.

"If..if they come from the Priestess's hut then...then...why do they smell like you?"

She had her eyes squeezed shut so she didn't see his face go from confusion, to realization, to as red as his Fire Rat Robe. She did look up at him as he started spluttering incoherently, which instantly gave him back his ability to speak.

"S-stupid! They smell like me because I was the one carrying it from the human village to here, not because of..of..whatever you were thinking!"

Kagome released a breath that she didn't know that she had been holding as he ranted on. _Well that answers that, I don't know what I would have done if-_ She realised that he was still talking and smiled up at him. He stopped talking and just blinked at her.

"Thank you, Inuyasha."

"For what?"

"Everything that you've done for me up till now."

She yawned in reply, covering her mouth as she did so.

"Keh! Just get some sleep already."

He said leaning back against the wall and folding his hands into the sleeves of his Hitatare, his eyes drifting closed. He heard her intake breath after she lay back down and decided to cut her off.

"I'm sleeping right here, but I'm a light sleeper so don't worry about anything getting us."

She closed her mouth with a nod and quickly fell asleep. And despite what he said about being a light sleeper, when he woke up he couldn't remember the last time he felt so well rested.

 _Inuyasha_

Inuyasha bounded through the forest, heading towards what had been the territory of the Mistress Centipede. Tree branches whizzed by overhead and his ears flicked to an fore at the fleeting sounds of forest animals, he needed to try to get his mind off of Kagome.

 _Kagome said that she heard another centipede demon call the Mistress Centipede 'Centipede mother', but Mistress Centipede never lived with other demons. So while Kagome may have thought that was the real name of her, I think that this means that Mistress Centipede must have had some demon spawn that was crying out to their parent as Kagome attacked them. And that means that I have to find 'em all if I'm to be rid of that fucking Mistress Centipede once and for all!_

 _Kagome_

 _He's gone?!_ Was Kagome's first thought upon waking up and finding herself all alone in the sloping cave. She could smell that he had been there only a few minutes ago, so she got up and carefully tested her body to see how it was recovering. Her ribs and back still hurt, but the other injuries were most of the way healed by now. _Well it has been a couple nights and a days, so I should be feeling better by now._

Kagome walked up to the cave's entrance and blinked in the mid morning sunlight, shielding her eyes from it so that she could look around.

The cave was set in a large, high grass field that was surrounded by a thick old forest. Kagome could hear a river running nearby, and the abundance of forest animals lent their sounds to the wind as it worked its way through the trees. She took a deep breath, inhaling the rich smells of the forest, field, and Inuyasha. He had gone off into the forest to the east, which was also the direction at the human village was in she could smell.

 _I wonder what he's doing?_ Kagome tilted her head to the side. _I desperately want to take a bath, but I can't until all my wounds have healed because we don't have any more bandages, and perhaps I would have to ask permission first as I bet that this is Inuyasha's territory._

She frowned and blushed slightly as that last thought. _Maybe I'll just do it without his permission when he's not around, after all I bet that it's easier to ask his forgiveness than his permission._ She closed her eyes and stretched her body and other senses as she let the sunlight warm her.

She stiffened at a sudden thought.

 _I didn't grab the jewel shard that Mistress Centipede had and I know Inuyasha didn't either. So that means that unless some demon trespassed into Inuyasha's territory to get it, then it's still laying where I purified that demon! I have to go get it!_

She took off as an easy run through the grass, but had to stop when she reached the woods so that she could find her way back to the clearing where the fight had taken place. It only took a minute to figure out where it was and then she was off running again, heading towards that fated clearing where she met Inuyasha.

 **-X-**

Kagome arrived at the clearing only slightly winded, but really starting to feel her different aches and pains from the fight that happened here. _I guess I was hurt a little more than I thought, but I have to find the jewel shard before another demon does._

She could sense that the jewel shard was near, so she started by the stream and worked her way out around the clearing. Checking every grass tuft and under loose rocks, until she had searched the whole clearing without having found the jewel. She plopped down and rested her back against the huge tree that she had been thrown against a few days ago.

 _Now what?_ A gentle breeze teased the tree leaves as it drifted by, and a few green leaves started spiraling down.

 _I know that I can feel it around here, but where could it-_ One of the leaves that she was just kind of staring at while thinking, suddenly split in two and then peacefully continued its journey to earth. Kagome gasped in fear and upon hearing a familiar soft pluck sound, she was on her feet in a flash. Something incredibly small flashed by her head, only missing it because of Kagome moving it to face another direction before she saw the flash.

She could feel the aura now and all her instincts told her to run as fast and as far away as she could, but then she felt the shard again.

 _I can't leave the shard here when she's-_ The aura intensified and Kagome looked up to see that the air was now full of dark thin strands of hair, and looking higher still she saw the demon responsible for them. The almost human looking female demon who looked down at her had short black hair, a very curvy body, and was dressed in an incredibly skimpy and sleeveless black Kimono, was standing easily on a few measly strands of hair about 20 feet in the air above Kagome.

"Oh my. I forgot that you can see my web of hair, but being able to see it won't be enough for you to get away again, Hanyou."

Kagome growled.

"That's not very nice. Aren't you glad to see, Yura of the Hair again? I thought that we had a good time together when last we met. Of course, you still have that jewel shard but I'll be taking it with _me_ this time."

Yura flicked her hand and several dozen strands of hair whipped out at Kagome, who slashed them with her claws. The severed pieces of hair drifted down to the ground or draped themselves over Kagome as she fought to slice the strands that kept coming and cutting her from all sides.

Soon her arms and legs were covered with them and just as Kagome realized her mistake she felt all these strands tighten simultaneously, pinning her arms and legs to her body and trapping her in one place.

"I'll be helping myself to your jewel now."

Yura said as Kagome felt a tug on her little red bag and then saw it flying into one of Yura's hands. She opened it and pulled out the shard within.

"Oh? You still only have one, how disappointing, but maybe it's expecting too much of a Half-Breed to think that you could have more."

Her hand moved to a small pouch at her waist and she took something out.

"But look at that, now I have a pair of shards."

She said as she held both shards up between her fingers. _That's why I couldn't find it, Yura had it!_

"I still don't understand why you haven't used it yet, you would have had a better chance of beating me if you had."

"Give that back!"

Kagome yelled as she struggled to free herself from the strands.

"Have you come across any other shards in the time you've spent running from me, Hanyou?"

Kagome kept silent while glaring up at Yura, who stared back with an evaluating eye.

"I see. You're not going to tell me, are you?"

She drew her Wakizashi.

"In that case, you may as well die. Don't move around so that I can get a clean cut, we wouldn't want any blood to taint your hair's pretty blue-black color, now would we?"

Yura lept down towards her, and Kagome's heart jumped into her throat. _I'm going to die._ She screamed in fear, but as she did, she felt a surge of power as a new thought suddenly took control of her mind. _No I will not, I refuse to die here._ The only thing keeping her in place were the strands of hair wrapped around her, so she did the only thing she could think of. With a blinding flash of pink light, she purified the demonic aura that Yura was using to control the strands.

Yura, who had been jumping down towards Kagome cried out in pain at the first feeling of the purification, throwing off the looped ends of hair she had over her fingers and leaped away to avoid being wholly purified. She landed on the ground but then fell to her knees, body spazzing as the pain of purification ripped through her. Her demonic Wakizashi was admitting a terrible high-pitched vibrating sound, and between her and her sword's pain Yura payed no attention to Kagome.

Kagome had passed out for a second after purifying herself along with Yura and her hair strands, but was awake again in seconds. She struggled for a second to get herself in a good position, then with a grunt of effort she broke free from the now just normal hair strands to fall to her knees.

Her mind barely registered the pain that her body was in as it forced her to her feet, and set her off at a fast run through the forest back the way she had come. _Yura will recover soon and I have nothing to defend myself with. Where are you Inuyasha?!_

 **-X-**

Back in the clearing, Yura slowly lifted her head and listened to the Hanyou run off into the forest. She knew that she was in no condition to be running after that Filth, _but I will be soon._ She smiled slightly at where the Hanyou had vanished then yelled as loudly as she could after it.

"I'll have your head for this offence, Hanyou!"

She added quietly to herself.

"Running away won't help you, I can find you anywhere you go. I have the shards now and I know just how to get to you, soft Wolfy-slime."

* * *

 **I love hearing/reading about what you think of this story, so a big Thank You to all those who reviewed the last chapter!** **We've reached a new record folks! 5 reviews for a single chapter, so a big round of applause for these wonderful people that made this come true!**

Layla **Thanks!** **I can't wait for when I'm done writing more of this story too!**

jj **Welcome back! You were missed, and thanks! I made a couple of different changes to the last chapter so I don't quite know which change you're referring to though.**

Marie Allen ***blushes*** **Thank you, and wouldn't you know it, the next chapter will be a InuXKag one too! ;)**

crossMIRAGE19 ***blushing furiously* Th-thank you! You know that falling on the bed squealing thing I mentioned before, it happens every time I read your review because you are so sweet and nice! I did plan some of it, but not as much as you might think. :3**

DemonicEmo ***blushing furiously* I'm so happy that you are loving it so far and am honored to be your Inuyasha fix as that is a tall demand considering how great Inuyasha is!**

 **A moment of silence to mourn/ponder the loss of** lindaminina37 and the others **who have reviewed the other chapters but have been strangely silent for this one, I hope you guys are doing alright and will be back to enjoying the story soon!**

Leave a review and I'll thank you too!

 **Best wishes till next time!**


	8. 8 Kagome and Yura part 2

**Hello, everyone!**

 **I have two things to say to all you lovely people. First, is that I'm sorry that I have not updated for the past two or so weeks, but I had a final test & a big project to do in every. single. one. of my classes this past semester so I didn't have any time to write. Second, is that I want to thank everyone who still made time read this story in the whirlwind of semesters ending and just life in general, I'm honored. There were only two people who reviewed last chapter but since I've barely had time to check if anyone has read the story, I completely understand why there were only two. :) **

**That's why this chapter is really long, as a thank you for reading and as a gift for your getting through your work stuffs. ;)**

Constructive Criticism and Questions are always appreciated!

Enjoy the new chapter!

 _Point of View_

* * *

 _Inuyasha_

 _Damned bugs coulda put up more of a fight because as it was, they weren't much of a match for me. Who would have wanted to mate with Mistress Centipede anyway, because she was ugly and nasty as-_ A familiar voice cried out in pain, and Inuyasha changed course before he could really think about why he was doing it. He exploded out of the trees, hopped across a few rooftops, and skidded to a stop in the middle of the human village where a strange sight met his eyes.

All of the village girls and women were out, but their eyes were closed and their heads lolled forward as if asleep; However, the really strange thing was that they were all floating several feet off the ground and armed with knives and other small sharp things.

"What's up with all of you?"

Inuyasha asked gruffly, as the women started circling around him and raising their weapons.

"So you all want to take me on, is that what you're saying?!"

He demanded as he moved into a fighting stance. But then a thought crossed his mind and he straightened up slightly. _Wait a minute, they're all girls from this village._

"Hey! What's going on? You can't really think that you can beat me, so what gives?!"

Upon receiving no answer from the silent and still closing in girls, he moved back into his fighting stance while grumbling under his breath.

"Well, I'm not giving in."

"WAIT! Don't do it, Inuyasha!"

Called out the voice that had brought him here originally and he turned his head to look as he smelled blood. The old Priestess was dragging herself along the ground with one arm as the shoulder of the other was covered in the blood that he'd smelled, he glanced at one of the floating women and narrowed his eyes slightly at the blood he could see on her weapon.

 _That Priestess..._

"Dinnae harm the girls, Inuyasha!"

He sprang out of the circle of women that were about to attack him and landed in front of the old women on the ground.

"Wow, just look at you. You're a bloody mess."

Her expression deadpanned.

"Have ye nothing nicer to say to an old, injured woman?"

"So why shouldn't I hurt 'em? Because they're sure as hell trying to hurt me, and you too by the looks of it."

"They all be under a spell that is making them behave this way. You mustn't touch them, Inuyasha!"

"Will you shut up already?! They're hunting us both a-"

"Do ya nay understand, Inuyasha? We must get to the one who is controlling them!"

Whoever was controlling the women decided to have them attack Inuyasha then, but as he could tell that the old Priestess was going to say more, he just dodged their attacks. Making it easier to hear the old woman's now rather weak voice, he told himself.

"You were saying something about someone controlling them, Oldie?"

"Yes, cut the hair, Inuyasha! Cut the hair and the spell will be broken!"

"Cut their hair? How would that break the spell, Old Bat?"

" _The hair strands_ , not their hair!"

"I don't see any damn hair besides their own!"

The Priestess suddenly gasped, and all the women flew up high into the air before slumping to the ground.

"Run Inuyasha!"

He had barely had time to hear her words before his arms and legs were suddenly pinned to his sides by tight cords of something he couldn't see. He growled, then smirked at the nearby forest.

"Not very smart are ya? Because I don't need to see who's holding the other end of the rope to drag them out by it!"

Inuyasha sprang backwards, pulling hard on his invisible restraints as he did so, only to suddenly crash to the ground as they loosened. They tightened again and in the blink of an eye he was pinned to a tree, with what felt like a few strange blades pressed to throat. He struggled to breath and instinct told him that he had only a second to do something to save his head, so do something he did.

It looked to Kaede like he only jerked his body down and then tree behind him was sliced right where his neck had been, but she knew that it could not have been that simple, as it never was with demons.

He crouched there by what was left of the tree, panting and gently rubbing his neck.

"Oh..man. For..for a second there I..I thought I was a goner."

"Ya would have been, had ye been a human."

"I wouldn't be here if I was a human."

He bit back, then was distracted by the appearance of new floating shapes.

"The village men!"

The Priestess gasped as Inuyasha growled.

"More human puppets?! This is getting real old, real fast!"

"Leave me, Inuyasha! Leave me and make yer escape while ya still can!"

"Quit acting like some saint, Old Hag, and don't tell me what to-"

He was interrupted by the sound of the Priestess thudding completely down on the ground, and he whipped his head around to look at her.

 _Damn it all! She must have passed out because of blood loss!_

He turned his head back to the men as they floated within attacking range of him and the old women.

 _Crap! What do I do now?!_

 _Kagome_

Kagome stumbled through the forest, wincing as she stepped on sharp twigs and rocks, or when she tripped over exposed tree roots.

 _Why is this forest so big?! I can't find my way back to the cave or to Inuyasha without my demon senses, but I may-_

"Sankon-tessou!"

Kagome started, then took off at a run towards the sound of Inuyasha's voice until she could see the human village up ahead of her.

 _Why is Inuyasha there? He's not...killing the villagers is he?!_

She sped up until she was running into the village center. Where she gasped at the sight that greeted her. Yura's hair was controlling the village men to attack Inuyasha; who was dodging as they tried to hit him and slicing at mid air in an attempt to cut the hair which he clearly could not see.

 _Why isn't he trying to get away? He could easily jump away, and it's not like-_ She finally noticed the old Priestess laying on the ground as Inuyasha landed above her to block a downward swipe that was directed at her from one of the men, and Kagome gasped again.

"That's pretty low to attack an old, unconscious women."

Inuyasha barked out as he knocked away another two who were trying to do just that.

 _How do I help them?! I can't purify all the strands, and what if I hit Inuyasha?! I need to find a way to stop the hair, but how?!_

One of the strands flashed a dark blue for just a split second, but Kagome saw it.

 _That's it! That must be the strand that's the main one controlling all the others!_

"Wench!? What the Hell are you doing here!?"

Inuyasha yelled, having noticed her in one of his quick dodges. Kagome ignored him and raced to the control strand, having to dodge one or two of the men herself until she was standing next to it.

"Can you see this strand, Inuyasha? It's controlling all the others!"

"If I could see it, Wench, I would have cut it by now! Where is it?!"

 _He can't see it at all, so there's only one way left._

She reached out and grabbed on to it firmly with both hands, as she could feel it twitch back and forth at Yura's commands. She grunted slightly as she felt it cut into her hand and saw some blood slid along the strand, before turning her head to Inuyasha.

"It's right here, Inuyasha; cut it!"

"I see it now!"

Inuyasha leapt between the men and sliced the hair strand with his claws, the hair went slack and dissipated while all the men fell to the ground.

 _Yura has the jewel shards, so why is she attacking the village? To kill the old Miko? No, Yura wouldn't really care about her as she lives farther away, and she don't know anything about Inuyasha...So she must still be after me._

She looked up to find Inuyasha staring at her closely, he opened his mouth to say something but was beaten to it by an older voice.

"Ye can see the strands, Child!"

Both turned to the Priestess had struggled into a sitting position against the side of a hut, and Kagome could see that the people of the village were slowly getting up as the spell wore off.

"And I know that ye be the same girl I treated a few days ago, how-"

"Granny, I thought you had passed out a while ago. So how the Hell are you awake now!?"

"I had not passed out then, Inuyasha. I was merely resting."

She answered while giving him an exasperated closure of her eye. Kagome grimaced at the wound the old Miko had and turned to Inuyasha who was just about to sling some retort back at the women.

"Inuyasha, you know where the Miko's hut is; so can you get me some bandages from there?"

"Your hands don't need any bandages, Wench."

"They're not for _me_ , they're for _her_ shoulder!"

Kagome glared angrily at him, pointing at the old Priestess. He opened his mouth to say something back, but was interrupted by the old woman again.

"What be yer name, Child? Mine be Kaede."

"My name? Kagome, Kaede-sama."

The Priestess nodded, then opened her eye and fixed them both with the sternest look that they had even seen.

"I do not know why this demon chose to attack this village, but I do know that the two of ye are certainly strong enough to defeat it."

"What are you saying, you old conniving Crone? That you want us to solve your demon problem for you, because there's no way in Hell that I'm-"

"I'll do it."

Inuyasha quit growling and looked at Kagome in surprise.

"Do you have a bow that I may use, Kaede-sama?"

Kaede nodded, and then bayed one of the now revived men to go get one of hers as Kagome turned to look Inuyasha in the eyes.

"Will you come with me? I don't think I can defeat her on my own, and I would be very grateful for your help."

He stared at her, looking completely stunned, and Kagome wasn't quite sure what he was so surprised at.

"You..want me...to go with you?"

"Yes, of course I do! But I understand if you don't want to, as you were just so set against going when Kaede-sama was asking us."

He blinked at her, and she turned to except Kaede's bow from the man who approached her. She took it, and the man turned away to help tend to Kaede, and gave orders to the last few villagers to get inside their huts. She gripped the bow tightly and stared down at it.

 _It's been years since I last even held a bow, let alone fired one. But I have to make sure that these villagers aren't attacked by Yura again, even if Inuyasha doesn't-_ A light and warm weight suddenly came down on her head and shoulders. She started slightly at the red fabric draped over her, and looked over her shoulder at Inuyasha who was now without his red Hitatare and was looking away from her.

"This was woven with the fur of the Fire Rat, so it's much stronger than ordinary armor."

She blushed slightly and looked away from him quickly, stammering out whatever came to her suddenly blank mind.

"Th...thank y..you."

She saw him relax slightly out of the corner of her eye, then cross his arms over his chest.

"I think you'll need it in this fight because you're really weird."

"You're the weird one."

She frowned, turning to face him. He just frowned at her in return for a few seconds, before they heard Kaede clear her throat loudly.

"Whatever, let's go!"

He crouched down with his back facing her and when she just stood there staring at him, he growled over his shoulder.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?!"

"Umm, what-why are you-"

"You're getting on my back, because I ain't waiting for your sorry human ass to drag itself to where we're going because it would take you forever!"

Kagome huffed then slowly and reluctantly climbed on, flinching as she felt his hands grip her thighs as he stood.

"Which way?"

"I can see several glowing strands of hair and there's the main strand that's enchanting the others...Which means if we follow the main strand, we'll find Yura! That way!"

Inuyasha took off in that direction and bounded through the forest at a wonderful, yet terrifying speed. Slowly the joy at the speed and beginnings of trust that she felt towards Inuyasha was making her forget about where his hands were gripping her gently, and she could just relax.

 _Inuyasha_

As soon as he felt Kagome actually relax he began his questioning.

"Who's Yura?"

"She's a demon that I stumbled across a while ago, that hates that I managed to escape her."

"That's it?!"

"Well, there is more...but it has to do with what happened before I came to your forest, and of course me being a Hanyou..."

"...So she's after us because we're both Hanyou."

"Yes, and because she took my Jewel shard."

"What is this Jewel shard, because I don't want to get into a fight with this demon and have you all worried about some stupid little trinket."

"No, it's not like that it's...it's just very important to me, alright? I need to get it back, but I will not abandon you for it."

He fell silent and they continued to race and weave their way through the forest after Yura's hair strands as afternoon faded into evening, and evening dimmed into night. It was only after they had left Inuyasha's forest and started climbing some low cliffs that he started up some conversation again.

"So do you even know how to use that bow?"

"I used to, but it's been a long time since I last have. Why?"

"Keh, the arrows you shoot probably won't hit their targets then."

"How rude! They might!"

"Yeah, right! If you're not sure that they'll hit, why'd you bring one?!"

"Because my mother taught me, and she said that if I use one in my human times then it might help! So just watch me, Inuyasha. I'm going to use it and when this is over, I'll start practicing with it again!"

He felt one of her hands tighten on his shoulder as she spoke, and as he landed on the top of the cliff he glanced back at her face. She was looking ahead for where they should go next, but her eyes were practically glowing with determination.

 _I gotta admit that this girl is pretty gutsy. Her mother taught her, huh? Since I've never come across a demon that used a bow, I wonder if her mother was her human parent like mine was..._

"These main strands of hers are getting pretty close together, meaning that she must be nearby so we'd better be careful from here on-."

The tree next to them suddenly exploded into slices and splinters and as Inuyasha leapt out of the way long tendrils of hair came snaking over the edge of the cliff that they were heading towards. They shot at them with a blinding speed and even though Kagome tried telling Inuyasha where they were, the hair was moving far too fast for her to say it's place or how to dodge it.

Inuyasha released Kagome's legs so that he could use his arms to cut at the strands and dodge, and finding a weak point in the hair's position; he dove through it and started sliding down a shallow cliff. Kagome screamed as she evaded a mass of hair and lifted her face from his silver hair covered neck to start shouting a warning about something in his ear, just as he felt something wrap around one of his wrists.

He was pulled out from under Kagome and felt other hair restraints wrap around his other wrist and both ankles as he was lifted up even higher into the air. He was pulled taut in all directions as he heard Kagome scream his name and say something about a hiding place, before a female demon came bounding out of nowhere and "landed" floating in midair. The demon looked at Kagome with a smirking smile, and then she looked at him.

"Hmm, such fine prey I've caught tonight. You're Inuyasha, aren't you?"

"And you're Yura. How do you know my name?"

"I've heard the gossip in the wind. You're the Lord of the Western Lands Hanyou brother, and every demon who's any demon knows who he is. How you must insult him with your existence, and the fact that you would chose to associate with an even lower and more brainless Hanyou that didn't even use this shard's power to increase her own to save her life."

She reached between her large breasts, and pulled out a tiny red bag that he recognized as being the one that he had taken back from that Priestess. She opened it, and pulled out a small sliver of a pink jewel.

"She was even so dense as to let me take two from her."

She said as she revealed the second with a flick of her fingers, and Inuyasha growled angrily.

"So I'll take care of you two, then go looking for other fragments of the jewel to become even more powerful."

"Ha! Deal with me? You're the one who'll rue the day you appeared before my eyes, Crone."

Inuyasha said as he tensed his muscles, slowly curling in on himself only to suddenly rip his way free and take a swing at Yura. She jumped out of the way, then lashed out with a red comb that he didn't remember seeing in her hands before, which drew in hair only to then shot it out at him.

 _Damn it! She keeps on using the same tactic over and over again, so what is the weak spot?_

The torrent of hair engulfed and snagged him within until it had him suspended like before, gripping on to him even tighter this time. Yura dropped down behind him, and he could feel her start running her fingers through his long silver hair.

"Such beautiful hair...but you don't really take care of it, do you?"

Her hands slid down the length of his hair with her fingertips touching his back, pressing harder with more of her hand as they got lower.

"So many split ends..."

He lashed out at her with as much force as he could, causing her to have to jump away from him as he practically twisted all the way around. Yura fell through the air down towards the ground, but somersault midair and must have landed on a few of her hair strands because she was propelled back up at him.

She smiled at him in a fake sweetness and drew her Wakizashi as she came hurtled back up at him, slashing him across the chest as she passed. He gasped in pain and sagged against the hair that was holding him in place, then growled at Yura as he noticed that she was hovering nearby.

She smiled as swiped some of his blood off her blade with her tongue and lowered the sword slightly.

"Now, I'll slice you to pieces with my beloved, Benigasumi."

Yura jumped towards him, but was almost hit by a glittering arrow and had to dodge back with an angered look on her face. Inuyasha followed Yura's gaze and saw Kagome, dressed in his Fire Rat robe, standing right where he had dropped her: bow in hand with another arrow notched on it that was pointing at Yura.

"Release Inuyasha, because I wouldn't miss next time!"

"Oh my."

"Hurry now, Yura! I will let it fly any second now!"

"Release Inuyasha', you say. You two must be quite...familiar, if she wants you back this badly."

Inuyasha looked back at Yura just in time to see the wicked smile that crossed her face, and he suddenly realized the danger Kagome had just put herself in. He twisted slightly to look at Kagome.

"Idiot! Forget about me and make your escape while you still can!"

"It's too late of that, Puppy. I'd already decided to add her hair to my collection long ago, and I still want it even though it's not as pretty as yours."

"I said, Release Inuyasha!"

Kagome yelled angrily as she shot the arrow at Yura, it sped up towards the demon but fell shy of her and instead lodged itself into what looked like midair. A bright, pink light circle grew from the arrow and suddenly Inuyasha could see a giant sphere of dark hair that was suspended near him between the two cliffs. It had a huge hole in it from Kagome's arrow had hit, and bony heads were leaking from it.

He heard Kagome gasp in horror, and Yura threw her hands up to either side of her face.

"NO! All my victims!"

She saw him smirk at her, and she turned towards him.

"Your head will soon occupy a place there...All that fine silver hair, and I can't wait to control it."

She dropped straight down for about ten or so feet, landed on something, and turned to face Kagome.

"Before that can happen however, you little Hanyou! You scared me, so die!"

The red comb appeared in her hands again and drawing some hair with it, she shot the hair back out cloaked in fire. The flaming hair enveloped Kagome and she collapsed to the ground covering herself with the Fire Rat robe as quickly as she could, while choked on the smell of burning hair and the smoke.

"How do you like my demon fire, little Hanyou? It's so hot that you can feel it all the way down to cores of your bones!"

"In..he-help!"

"Serves you right! There'll be nothing left of you when my fire is through, not even bones! You're being punished for messing with my nest, little Hanyou!"

Kagome coughed out something else and while Inuyasha knew that if she stayed under his Hitatare she would be fine, he couldn't stop the snarl that tore its way out of him. Yura must have heard him, because she turned to him with a mock saddened look on her face.

"Are you sad? Poor thing..."

Her face changed back to its normal, pleased expression and she drew Benigasumi.

"Well, you'll be joining her soon enough!"

She lunged at him, and he wrenched an arm to his chest, soaking his fingers in the blood that was there from the wound she had given him.

"Hijin-kessou!"

She gasped as the blades of blood flew at her, eyes widened as her sword hand was sliced off. Inuyasha felt the strands holding him loosen considerably, and he smirked as she stared at him after landed.

"Ah! Now you can't control your strands!"

"You!...you should treat ladies more gently. People will laugh at you, you know."

On que the still spilling out skulls all started a strange, rattling laugh as the sphere sagged lower and lower to the ground.

"Playtime is over, Hanyou!"

She said as with a pull of her red comb, some of the laughing skulls flew at him and started pounding on him. He lashed out at them with his fists, but then had to dodge Yura's severed sword hand as it went slicing by.

"Darn! I came so close to having your head."

"Well, I won't allow that to happen! Hijin-kessou!"

Yura pulled up a wall of hair and laughing skulls to block the attack, and he growled at how easy it had been for her to block that attack of his.

 _If she can block it that easily, then this could go on for-_ He felt white-hot pain lance through his back and chest as Yura's Benigasumi stabbed him through, he gasped, then had the wind fully knocked out of him as she slammed him to the ground.

"You're just a half-demon with half the power. Poor little thing, did you want these shards to become a full-fledged demon?"

She landed in front of him, and he tried to ignore the pain as he waiting for the right moment.

"Don't move now! I have to sever your head very carefully so that your blood doesn't stain your beautiful silver locks."

As she pulled back to swing he saw his opening and lunged upright and forward, trusting his hand through her chest. She gave a choking gasp, and he pulled his hand out with Kagome's little red bag securely in his fist.

"That'll teach ya!"

He panted out as the hair pulled him down again. She jerked, then slammed a foot down on his hand forcing the red bag out of it.

"You're so arrogant. Thrusting your hand into the breasts of a woman you've only just met."

 _She didn't feel a thing?!_

"You've gone and stolen my jewel fragments, haven't you? Now that wasn't nice at all."

 _Yura must have a weak spot, but where? Where is her weak spot?!_

"I guess I can hold off on killing you so that I can teach you a lesson, Hanyou."

She leaned in slightly, then frowned and turned back to the dilapidated sphere where Inuyasha could see a figure in red climbing quickly over the skulls towards something.

"That little Hanyou..."

Yura hissed with a fury that made Inuyasha's eyes widen in fear for Kagome. Yura produced her red comb and savagely pulled some hair so that the whole part of the sphere that Kagome was climbing shook violently. He tore his eyes away and frantically looked around for something to use as a weapon or to distract Yura with, and they landed on Yura's sword which was still where she dropped it. He grabbed it and slashed at her defenseless back, snarling.

"You shouldn't have looked away!"

She cried out, but was instantly sewn back together by the hair near her. She spun around, eyes flashing.

"You're becoming a pain!"

She twitched her hand and the hair still holding on to him slammed him into a stone cliff, but despite the horrid pain he smirked at her.

"You didn't bat an eyelash when you were struck by your sword or my hand, but now you seem awfully upset. Is something worrying you over there?"

"I found it, Inuyasha! A red skull!"

Yura turned around so fast that she looked like a blur, and her red comb moved even faster. Kagome fell from where she had been hanging from with a cry, hair grabbed on to hold her suspended as Yura threw her sword at her. The sword was deflected because of his Fire Rat Hitatare and Yura snarled in frustration.

"Why wouldn't you die, little Hanyou?! HERE survive this!"

She flashed her comb again, and Inuyasha heard Kagome's strangled gasp as the strands looped themselves tightly around her neck. He instantly slashed at the hair holding him down, then exploded up into the air so that he was above Yura and covered both his hands in his blood.

"Hijin-kessou!"

Yura form was cut to ribbons by the blades, releasing all her control on what was left of the sphere so that it collapsed down to the ground. Inuyasha landed next to where Kagome was desperately clutching at the hair, grabbed her tightly to him, and leapt clear of the falling sphere. They had just landed when Kagome looked over his shoulder and gasped his name.

Reflexively, he shoved Kagome away then cried out as a fresh burst of pain stabbed through him along with Yura's Benigasumi, and he collapsed on the ground.

"I'm immortal, you know."

Yura crowed as she leapt down towards them, her sword flashed in Inuyasha's face but before it could hit, Yura gasped and stumbled to a halt. Inuyasha looked, and Kagome was holding a red skull in her hands.

"This is what gives you, your immortality, and this is also how you are able to manipulate the hair. All the main strands lead here and they're all connected to your hands as well."

She added in a softer voice as Yura flashed her sword out at Kagome to kill her.

"Sayōnara, Yura."

There was an almost blinding flash of pink, and Yura disintegrated away before their eyes leaving only her clothing and sword behind. Both Hanyou stared at the remains and then looked at each other for a couple of long moments. Then Inuyasha sat up, but didn't get any farther and bit back a whimper of pain.

"Inuyasha! You're badly hurt...and all because you let me wear your Hitatare...I'm so-"

"This..this is nothing."

He lied, forcing himself to his feet as she bent to retrieve her little red bag from Yura's things, and he carefully timed it so that she wouldn't see the pained expressions he made during this struggle.

"Let's go, Kagome."

She turned quickly, and looked quite happily and excitedly at him. He blinked back, unsure of what had happened to made her so happy.

"What?"

He finally asked after staring at her contented face for he didn't even know how long.

"That's the first time you've said my name."

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!**

Layla347 : **So nice to get a review from you again! I always smile a bit more inside when I recognize a reviewer's "name", Thank You for your kind words! :)**

.X **: Thank You, I'm so happy that you like it! A couple people have asked about Kikyo, she will be in the story and we will learn about what happened to make the jewel break, so don't worry. ;) As for Kagome's backstory...all will be revealed in good time, but I promise that you _WILL_ get it! **

**A moment of silence and just breathing for all those who need it...and at least one moment of cheering and laughter for everyone. 3**

Leave a review and I'll thank you too!

 **Best wishes till next time!**


	9. 9 Terror and Toad part 2

**Hi, everyone! I hope that you all like this chapter even though it's not an InuxKag one, and I hope that it helps those of you who are still finishing your spring semesters. You're almost there, you can do it!**

 **Are any of you interested in Beta-ing for me, or have any recommendations for good Betas? I have emailed several different ones about Beta-ing for this story and none of them have responded. I think that it could really help me with all the grammar problems I have, and help me catch a missing word/s or a misspelling. Because I try to find them all and work them out, but I know that I've missed some and I want this story to be the best that it can be.**

 **As a side note, I don't know how many of you Inuyasha fans and readers of my are also fans of the Legend of Zelda games, but I'm starting a Zelda fanfic called "Centuries Song", so if you're interested you should go check it out. I would love to see some reviews for that story from familiar reviewers! :D**

 **Don't worry though, just because I'm starting something new does NOT mean that I'm giving up on this one. I fully intend to keep writing this story at the pace that I normally do, as I love this story and readers far too much to just leave you all hanging like that. ;)**

Constructive Criticism and Questions are always appreciated!

 **Enjoy the new chapter!**

 _ **I do not own Inuyasha, but one can daydream about it, right? ;)**_

 _Point of View_

* * *

 _Sango_

The trio turned and entered the through the castle gate, crossing over to where the four guards that had been escorting Sango lay. Miroku crouched down to examine one of them, then straightened up while brushing off his robes.

"You were right, Sango. They are merely sleeping."

She nodded and they hurried across the rest of the grounds to the main castle, stopping only to check a few other guards that they found along the way who were also sleeping.

"We should all stay together until we've found Princess Tsuyu and have gotten both her and Nobunaga out of the castle. Then Sango and I will return and deal with the demon, agreed?"

They all nodded and the plan formulated, they started moving quickly through the large and long wooden hallways of the castle. Nobunaga opened every sliding door that they came to and searching the rooms with his eyes, quietly calling out to the Princess. It didn't take them too long the come to a particularly fine painted door, which Nobunaga hastily threw open.

"Princess Tsuyu!"

He exclaimed, running into the room to a prone figure lying on the floor. He cradled the surprisingly old woman in his arms, loudly lamenting as Sango hurried over to them.

"Oh, Princess Tsuyu! What has that horrible monster done to you?!"

Sango crouched by the pair with a slight frown on her face.

 _If this is the same young woman that Nobunaga told us about then how could she have gotten so old? I don't remember any kinds of demons that can age a person without completely draining the life from them, but this woman looks quite healthy for her old age. What could possibly hav-_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden feminine squeal of surprise and a loud slapping sound. She spun around to see Miroku's head facing her, while his body was facing a raised bed with a beautiful young woman on it. His cheek bore a bright red hand-print from the slap the girl had no doubt just given him, for what Sango didn't care to imagine.

"I believe that this is the Princess we're looking for."

Miroku said needlessly to his companions as Nobunaga dropped the old woman and rushed over.

"Princess Tsuyu!"

She tore her eyes from watching Miroku wearily, to blink at Nobunaga.

"Nobunaga? What are you doing here?"

She asked as he knelt by the side of the bed.

"You..you recognize a lowly vassal like me?"

He asked, a pleased look and blush stealing over his face. She smiled at him with a tender look in her eyes.

"Of course I remember you. You are a good childhood friend of mine who was always so kind to me."

His blush deepened, and he bowed his head slightly.

"Th..th..thank you for your kind words, my Lady."

"You would always do something to make me laugh, like falling in the pond when I called out to you or slipping on horse dung when I was telling you about my arranged marriage."

He blushed even redder, but now for a different reason and the pleased look on his face slipped.

"I wish that I could go back to those days."

She said softly, tears starting to slid down her face.

"My Lord husband began acting very strangely shortly after I arrived here to become his bride. He fell off his horse into a pond one day while out collecting something with his men, and ran a terrible fever. He is changed since then and now acts like a completely different person. Oh, Nobunaga, what am I to do?!"

He straightened up, his body language completely different than it was a couple seconds ago.

"There's no question about what you should do! You must return with me and leave this place and Lord. Even your father has heard of this Lord's new madness, and he ordered me to come for you."

"You came on my father's orders?"

"No, even if he had not ordered it I would have..."

He swallowed thickly, and her soft whisper was the only sound in the room as the two stared at each other.

"Nobunaga..."

"Princess Tsuyu...I..I."

A loud thudding sound from a nearby room interrupted Nobunaga's attempts to speak his thoughts, and Sango and Miroku looked at the door, then each other.

"The demonic aura is getting stronger, so the demon must be on its way."

Miroku said while sticking his head out the door carefully, and Sango whipped around to face the other two.

"Come on, we have to get you two out of here before the demon finds us."

Nobunaga nodded and helped the Princess stand, then the group made their way out of the room and back down the halls as quickly as they could. Rounding a corner they came face to face with a hulking man whose misshapen face was covered by long strips of moist white cloth. Miroku and Sango tensed, both sensing that this was the demon they had been trying to avoid and readied their weapons.

"Intruders!"

Bellowed the man in a strange, almost slimy voice. Miroku was the first to react, pulling out a Sutra and throwing it so that it slapped onto the white face wrappings. He quickly followed up with his Shakujō's head slamming down on the Sutra, there was a flash of pale blue spiritual light and the white wrappings exploded...to reveal a distinctly green frog-like face that was perfectly intact.

The froggy-toad demon gave a throaty, vibrating laugh at the surprise that appeared on their faces. It shot out its thick red tongue at Miroku, who dodged to the side giving Nobunaga and Tsuyu a clear view of the demon.

"My Lord!" Tsuyu gasped and promptly fainted in Nobunaga's arms. The noise and movement from the girl brought the demon's attention to her.

"Princess Tsuyu!"

It cried out in a surprised and very angry voice, its red-brown eyes flashing at Nobunaga for him daring to take what it obviously considered to be its.

 _A toad demon that would certainly explain the miasma earlier. Wait, miasma!_

"Miroku!"

Sango yelled and glancing back at her, he had just enough time to duck out of the way as Sango stepped up into a familiar position with her right hand tightly gripping the large weapon on her back.

"Hiraikotsu!"

She hurled her giant boomerang-like weapon straight down the hallway at the demon and in an impressive show of blind luck, the demon stumbled back in fear and fell to the floor just in time to avoid being cut in two by Hiraikotsu, which harmlessly passed by a hair's breadth above its nose. The demon took a deep breath, its cheeks bulged for a split second, before it lifted its head and breathed a stream of purple miasma at them.

"Don't inhale that mist, it's poisonous!"

Sango pulled out her Wakizashi, and was about to charge the demon when she heard Nobunaga gasp behind her. She turned her head to look at him sharply.

"I told you not to inhale the mis-"

Then she saw what he was grasping at, a large, vaguely human-shaped, gelatinous dark mass with a evil-looking white mask for a face; was coming down the hallway towards them. _Another demon?!_

"Kirara!"

She commanded, pointing towards the oncoming demon and saw a flare of flames as Kirara moved to intercept. She heard her name yelled by Miroku, and then was tackled to the ground as the thick red tongue of the toad demon punctured the air where she had been a split second ago. The toad took this opportunity to leap past the two warriors and landed in front of Nobunaga who still held the Princess.

"Princess Tsuyu!"

It cried as Nobunaga drew his Katana hastily.

"Get back, demon!"

"And just what can you do to stop me, human?!"

It lashed out with its tongue, piercing the upper arm and shoulder that Nobunaga's was using to hold the princess to prove its point, and he fell back to the floor with a cry of pain. Both Sango and Miroku were on their feet in a flash, but the demon lost no time in grabbing the Princess off the floor and smashing down the closest wall to flee with her.

"Princess Tsuyu!"

"Nobunaga!"

Miroku and Sango yelled respectively as one demon fled, and the other closed in on them.

"Miroku, you patch up Nobunaga and help Kirara deal with this demon, while I get Princess Tsuyu!"

Sango called over her shoulder as she ran to retrieve Hiraikotsu from where it landed, then vanished farther down the hall around another corner.

 _Miroku_

Miroku spun and raced over to where Kirara was 'fighting' the strange demon, but her bites and claw slashes seemed to do nothing as it just pulled itself together again.

"The jewel...the Sacred Jewel...give it to me."

"So that's what you're after, eh? Well, you shall not have it!"

 _This demon is pretty strong to be resisting Kirara like this, so perhaps that means it has a jewel shard of its own!_

Miroku threw a Sutra and as it stuck to part of the bulging black body, he hit it with his Shakujō. The demon screamed in pain as the black body disappeared in a flash of blue light, leaving only the floating mask part.

"How dare you destroy my hard sought body, Monk! Give me your shards so that I may add to my power and get another, more permanent one."

The mask flew at Miroku and he threw another Sutra on it, as he skillfully dodged out of the way. It either did not see Nobunaga laying on the ground, or it deemed that his body was not suitable for its purposes. Because instead of going for him, it turned mid air and continued its speedy assault on Miroku.

He swung out powerfully with his Shakujō, but just as it was about to connect with the Sutra plastered to it. A large sharp toothed mouth appeared, vertically split the mask face and ripped the Sutra in half. It bit firmly onto the head of Miroku's Shakujō and somehow managed to laugh at him around it.

Miroku's eyes widened in surprise as it started mouthing its way down towards him, and he tugged on the Shakujō with all his might to no avail. He was about to just release it, when a plan occurred to him.

"Kirara!"

He called, holding out the staff end with the mask on it towards her. Kirara understood instantly and with a fearsome roar, she cut the the mask face into multiple pieces with a horizontal sweep of one huge clawed paw. The mask screamed and exploded in a flash of intense white light, out of which fell a single sliver of pink. Miroku said a quick prayer over it so that he could pick it up, then quickly stashed it away with the others.

He turning to Nobunaga, who was struggling to stand while staring at the hole in the wall left by the toad demon.

"Nobunaga, don't move until I've bandaged that injury of yours. You're badly hurt."

He added to himself under his breath.

"...And if Sango learned that I let you move it around without having bandaged it first, I would be too."

Nobunaga looked at him fiercely through pain filled eyes.

"Never mind me, go help Sango save the Princess!"

"Oh! So you really do really love the Princess then..."

Miroku reveled in the shocked expression on Nobunaga's face, while he worked on pulled out some bandages from a bag.

"...That changes things."

"H...h..how did you know?!"

"It was fairly obvious to tell even if you weren't a man of my experience."

Miroku replied as he tightened the arm and shoulder wrappings, then helped Nobunaga to his feet.

"Now come on, we should go find wherever Sango is with the Princess. Kirara!"

* * *

 **A big Thank You to all those who reviewed the last chapter!**

Layla347 : **Thank you so much, my friend! Your smiley faces always make me smile. :)**

StormGemini : ***falls back on bed while squealing and blushing furiously* Th-th-thank you! Your review made me SO HAPPY, and I'm happy that you are loving it so far!**

.X : **So n** **ice to hear from you again! For most of the story, no; for some of it, yes. I know that she has been human a lot in the story so far, but there are reasons for that: she didn't feel like she could beat these foes in her Hanyou form and she's still getting to know Inuyasha, so she don't really know how much he can take yet.**

 **A moment of silence to close your eyes and say to yourself, _I got this!_...and then open them with a smile.** **I always smile when I get a new review, because it shows me that the story that I put so much time and energy into is really making someone else's day.**

Leave a review and I'll thank you too!

 **Best wishes till next time!**


	10. 10 Home and Parents

**Hi, everyone!**

 **Hopefully everyone is done with their school semesters and aced them! I bet you did. ;) My need/want of a Beta still stands, but I understand if you guys are not interested...I also hope that you guys get back into the swing of reviewing my story now that school is (hopefully) over for you because I love reading what you think of it, but very few of you have been leaving reviews lately; So I can't help but wonder where my wonderful readers have gone...I miss you guys with your great questions and comments! :.(**

 **Little rant/plea over, please Enjoy the new chapter!**

Constructive Criticism and Questions are always appreciated!

 _ **I do not own Inuyasha, not even a cute plushy!**_

 _Point of View_

 **-X- time skip**

* * *

 _Inuyasha_

It took a long time for the injured Kagome and Inuyasha to make it out of the mountain foothills that they had found Yura in, and even after Kagome turned back into her Hanyou form it was still slow going. She had been refusing his help the whole climb down even though she was still trapped in her human form, because she claimed that his injuries were far worse than hers.

 _Even though she's right, she doesn't have to argue so vehemently every time I offer to jump her down or carry her, damn it! How weak does she think I am!?_

She turned back into a Hanyou sometime around dawn and even though she didn't seem to be too hurt or anything like that, she looked lost in worried thinking and refused to talk. So by the time they got back to his forest, he had run out of patience and stepped in front of her so that they both stopped traveling.

"What the hell is your problem!? You seemed happy after we defeated Yura, but you've hardly said anything since then and that look on your face is bothering me!"

"What are you talking about?!"

There was far less fire in her voice than there should have been, and she glared halfheartedly at him.

"Don't give me that, answer the question!"

She sighed, lowering her blue eyes until she was looking at the ground in front of herself.

"It's just...this is your territory..."

"Yeah, what about it?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. Determined to stare an answer out of her regardless of how long it may take, and he was rewarded as his gaze made her shift uncomfortably.

"Are..are you going to kick me out?"

His golden eyes widened.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because demons of similar rank don't really live together in the same territory unless they're family..."

She looked up at him quickly, a surprising fear in her eyes as she tried backtracking.

"Not that I'm saying that I'm as powerful as you or anything like that! It's just-"

He cocked his head to the side.

"That's what you're worried about? Keh. I ain't gonna kick you out, stay as long as you want."

"Really, Inuyasha?"

"Sure, just don't kill any of the humans in that village we were in before. They'll get all annoying and act really stupid if you do."

"Nothing..else?"

"Not that I can think of."

He shrugged, stepped back towards the forest before looking at her questioningly.

"Why? Should there be something else?"

She smiled at him in relief and shook her head.

"Un-uh. So are we heading back to the cave? It would be a good place to get some sleep."

"I guess if you want to. I was just gonna sleep in a tree, but whatever."

Both started running through the forest towards the cave.

"How can that be comfortable sleeping on a tree branch? Don't you worry about falling off?"

He flashed her a toothy grin, a smug look on his face.

"Nope. Never have, never will."

 **-X-**

It was a few days later and both Hanyou were down by the river that flowed near the cave. Kagome was bathing in the river after washing her clothes and Inuyasha was laying on a tree branch nearby, facing away from the river.

"You better not be looking, Inuyasha!"

"I ain't! I'm just waiting for you to be done so I can take one."

"You could go farther up or down stream, then you wouldn't have to wait."

A loud "Keh!" was his only response before he changed the subject.

"Why the hell do you want to go back to the village?!"

"Because Kaede might be able to help me train."

"If you go there, the hag will learn that you're a Hanyou."

"Perhaps."

"She might not like you anymore when she knows, and what kind of training can she help you with? You already know how to use a bow, so get one if you want one and you're all good to go."

"I don't mean training with a bow, Inuyasha. I want her help with training my Miko powers."

"Why do you want to work on those? You can only use them when you're human and you're plenty strong without them taking away your demon powers."

"You may be Inuyasha, but I'm not. I've only managed to live this long because I can run really fast and can purify demons...or because I've had help."

Inuyasha bit back his retort as he heard the sadness in her voice, causing him to pause as he tried to think of a better thing to talk about.

"Inuyasha, how did you get this forest as your territory?"

"My old man left it to me."

"Was he your Dog demon parent?"

 _When I wanted to talk about something else, I didn't mean this!_

"..Yeah. What about you, which was your demon parent?"

"My father. He was a wolf demon from farther north. Yura said that your brother was Ruler of the Western Lands, what did that mean?"

"Well our father was ruler of all these lands and was called that, so after he died royal Stick-up-his-ass became that 'lord'."

"So your father was a Daiyōkai then, that would explain why you're so strong."

"If you say so, what about your father?"

"Him? Oh, my father was the youngest brother of the pack leader, so nowhere near a Daiyōkai like yours."

"How did you get your Miko powers then, because it sure as hell wasn't from him."

"My mother was a Miko, what about yours?"

"She was a noblewoman, but your father must have been crazy to want a mate that could do what you've done to those demons we've fought."

"My father wasn't crazy! My mother didn't like purifying demons because she thought that it was wrong unless they were going to kill someone, and he could tell. He said that Ma...Mother was interesting so he watched her for awhile, _then_ once he was sure about this, he started pursuing her."

"Still sounds crazy to me, but he was a wolf so I'm not surprised that he was crazy. Was she powerful?"

"Kind of, she could make really powerful barriers, but she wasn't really much of a fighter because she was so kind."

Inuyasha took a couple seconds to digest this information, but he was distracted by the sound of water falling from Kagome's hair as she wrung it out.

"I'm done Inuyasha. I was thinking-"

"About time that you were done, Wench. What were you trying to do, wash yourself white?"

He leapt down and walked over to near where she was standing. She had put back on her Miko clothes even though they were not fully dry yet, and she was wringing out her very thick black hair. She frowned at him as he walked over, the blue sheen of her hair and pointed erection and attention of her similar colored ears that looked like his own had a smile coming on his face, but he covered it with a smirk.

"As I was saying, I was thinking that I'd go for a quick hunt while you doing your washing. So I'll meet you back at the cave later."

He frowned slightly, and watched her separate two small sections of hair on either side of her face and attach a single large wooden bead onto each of them. When she finished and looked at him expectantly, he blinked then nodded his consent and then started striping. She was gone in a flash, but he thought that he caught a hint of a red face as she left so he decided that he'd get this washing over with quickly...

 **-X-**

"This is a stupid idea, Kagome. That old bat can't help you and we'd be better off avoiding humans."

"It is not a bad idea! She could be very helpful, and the people there don't seem that bad."

She paused at the edge of the forest by the village and flattened her ears to her head, then rearranged her forelocks to cover them so that they just looked like another part of her hair. She glanced at him and saw the strange somewhat confused and slightly accusing look he was giving her, so she frowned at him.

"What now?"

"Why did you do that thing with your hair and ears?"

"What do you think?! I was hiding them because I don't need to rub it in their faces that I'm a Hanyou!"

"They're not going to think that you're human even with having done that because you still have blue eyes, sharp teeth, and claws."

"So I won't flash my teeth at them, I'll walk with my hands folded so that they can't see my claws, and pass off my eyes as a gift from the Kami! What do you want me to do Inuyasha?! Walk in there like you, bold as brass in broad daylight Hanyou?!"

She said while poking his chest with one clawed finger, now standing on her tip-toes so that she was closer to his height.

"Well at least I'm not pretending to be something I'm not!"

He retorted, leaning down towards her angry face.

"Oh, like you don't deny that you're a Hanyou and try to convince people that you're a full-blooded demon whenever you can! Because that's 'pretending to be something you're not' too, Inuyasha!"

"What?! I-"

"Don't you dare try to tell me that you've never done that before!"

"Wha-!"

"Oh! Kagome, Inuyasha, how nice to see ye again so soon."

Both Hanyou started at the sound of the old woman's voice, and Kagome whipped around to smile kindly at her.

"Kaede-sama! Your injury must be healing nicely, because you look so much better now."

"Aye, it be healing well. So to what do I-"

"Hey! I don't remember telling you my name before!"

Inuyasha interrupted the old woman to receive an angry half-swallowed warning growl from Kagome as she turned her head to glare at him.

"Inuyasha!"

He growled back.

 _If you think that I'm the one going to submit here, Wench. You got another-_

"I knew who ya were when I first saw ya in my hut, Inuyasha. This whole forest is named for red and silver dog demon that claims this as its territory, after all. And I doubt that there are any others around who match that interesting a description."

"Here Kaede-sama, let me carry that basket for you."

Kagome stepped in between the mild looks that the woman and Hanyou were giving each other and took the small, shallow basket from the Priestess's good arm.

"Thank ye child. I was just on me way to me hut to start drying some of these herbs, would ya be interested in helping?"

They all started walking towards the village again with Kagome and Kaede in the lead and Inuyasha walking behind them, arms folded into his sleeves while glowering at the women's backs.

"Yes, in fact we were just on our way to see you. You see, I have a favor to ask of you-"

"Shh, child."

Kaede said softly while looking around with her carefully.

"Ask me when we are within me hut, these people are too nosy for their own good."

Kaede said before nodding pleasantly at a group of children and their mothers, and leading the two Hanyou through the village towards her hut.

* * *

 **A big Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!**

Twisted Musalih : **I'm glad that you really like it so far, and I hope that you love the chapters to come! :)**

StormGemini : ***blushes*** **I'm happy that you like it so far, and I don't think that I can make myself hold off on bringing the whole group together for much longer. So I think that it's safe to say that we can all expect the group to get together in the next few chapters! :D**

Leave a review and I'll thank you too!

 **Best wishes till next time!**


	11. 11 Enter Sesshomaru

_**I'm baaaackkk!**_

 **Hi everyone!**

 **So before you all start yelling at me for not having written anything for this story for so long, I will attempt to defend myself. 2016 has been an _INCREDIBLY_ hard year for me, and this summer has really been the first time I've had since the start of the year to recover from everything. I never meant to spend so long away from this story, but when I got more time to write this summer I decided that I would try and focus on some of the other ideas for stories that I would need that extra time to write and put off writing new chapters for this for a bit. **

**I'm dyslexic, so it can really take awhile to write long, complex things like my stories. I've had this story planned out for over 3/4ths of a year now and find is super easy to sit down and crank out a chapter, so forgive me? I will NEVER abandon a story, especially not this one as it is a favorite of mine, so please don't worry about that. :) **

**I think that's about all I can say, so hopefully you all forgive me and enjoy the first of a two part-er that I have written especially for this story's return!**

 ** _Inuyasha is not mine, sadly._**

 _Point of view_

* * *

 _Inuyasha_

Inuyasha glowered at the two women's backs at they walked through the village towards the Priestess hut, both women in return paid him no mind as they amiability chatted about the herbs Kaede had gathered. Inuyasha's ears flicked this way and that as the villagers around them stopped to whisper about their strange visitors, but he kept his eyes locked ahead of him on Kagome's black hair.

"It's that Priestess from the day the village was attacked."

"It's that demon again! Why is it here?"

"It was here then on that day as well."

"Why is it with her again? Do you think that its done something to her? I mean, why would a self respecting Priestess let a demon follow her?"

"That's the demon Inuyasha, the red and silver demon of the forest!"

One old man said with conviction to the people around him. _As if the old coot had ever actually seen me before._

"Maybe it was granting her safe passage to the village because she is from outside the forest?"

"Maybe she's taken control of it in some way?!"

"Ah, that would make sense."

"What makes you think that she lives outside the forest?"

"Well, she can't live _in_ the forest, can she? That demon following her around is probably scary enough as it is, but if she lived out there alone who knows what would happen to her."

"She is a good looking woman."

"She is a Priestess, so show her some respect!"

"Yeah! Given what she no doubt has to deal with, it's the least you could do!"

Inuyasha bit back a sudden growl at the final comments between one of the village man and two women. The other things that had been said were a large part of the reason that he hadn't wanted them to come to the village, but the last ones made him mad.

 _What she has to deal with!? Who the hell do they think they are, talking about Kagome like that!? She is good looking, but not for you, Bastard! They think Kagome has a lot to deal with? Well they're the ones about to have a lot to deal with if they say one more thing about her like what they have been!_

A strong breeze blew through and Kagome clapped her free hand over the herbs in the basket with a speed that would have revealed her demonic heritage if one had been watching closely enough through hair and clothing flying all over the place. Even Inuyasha's hair was lifted and batted around, which is really saying something considering how long, thick, and heavy it was _and_ that this wind came at them face-on.

He narrowed his eyes to avoid the ends of Kagome's hair hitting them as her hair flicked back against his face, but he took a deep inhale of her scent as it blew past him.

"Feels like a storm be on its way."

Kaede said while glancing up at the graying sky as the wind died down, then she suddenly directed her head down at the ground.

"Looks like some of the herbs decided to replant themselves for us."

Inuyasha looking down boredly at the spilled plants while Kagome gasped and stammered out an apology to Kaede while hastily bending down to gather the fallen herbs.

"It be fine, child. The wind carries away what it will on its journey to other places and if I had been carrying that basket they all might have fallen, don't worry."

Kaede turned away and continued her slow walking to her hut, but Inuyasha kept watching Kagome until she straighten up and turned to follow. He was about to say a sarcastic remark concerning her great keeping and collecting abilities when he realised that one of her ears was showing. It was still flattened to her head so it didn't immediately stand out, but was clearly visible to anyone standing near her.

He took a few strides till he was walking right behind her and before he chickened out, quickly rearranged her hair so that her ear was covered again. Her hair was very thick and soft under his fingertips, but as soon as she stared turning her head he whipped his hand away and jammed it into his Hitatare sleeve, he's head up and looking pointed away from her.

He felt a sudden sharp twinge in his right eye and he brought out a hand to rub it as she stared at him in slight confusion. He looked at her fully with his left eye, feeling another twinge from the right one as he did so, and watched her confusion morphed into something else before she hastily muttered a 'thank you' while turning to follow after Kaede.

His right eye burned and he stopped rubbing it, frozen at a sudden lance of pain from it that shot through his skull. Tears welled up in his eyes as pain lanced through his skull, and then he felt something cool touch the palm of the hand. The pain vanished as quickly as it had came and he slowly removed his hand, blinking a few times to remove the watery feel from them and then looked at the small thing in his hand.

It was a black round thing about the size of his little finger's claw, but was surprisingly heavy. _What the-? Why was this in my eye, and how the hell did it get there?!_

He frowned at the little thing and thought about throwing it away, but decided to stick it in his inner pouch instead. He looked up to see Kagome standing in front of the Old Bat's hut, a hand gesturing for him to come. He huffed defiantly and folded his hands back into his sleeves, but walked to her anyway.

"What were you doing?"

She asked when he got within a few feet of her, and he frowned.

"Nothing."

A flash of annoyance crossed her face and she opened her mouth to argue that it wasn't nothing and he should just tell her, only to be interrupted by the voice of Priestess within the hut.

"Kagome, child; could ye lift this pot of water for an old woman? Me back is nay what it use to be."

Inuyasha smirked at her, then inclined his head towards the door for her to enter first. She frowned at him then turned with a huff that rivaled his own from a few seconds ago and stepped on his closest foot as she walking into the hut. He swallowed his yelp as to not give her the satisfaction and followed her in with one last backward glare at the villagers still watching.

He entered and felt his eyes adjust to the dim firelight rapidly as he stood in the doorway watching the two women.

"Like this, Keade?"

"Aye, but a little more to the left over those coals there."

He watched Kagome lift the pot of water with one arm and just kind of hold it over wherever she thought the old one wanted it until she was corrected. She didn't look tired in the least and actually looked happy to be helping the ancient hag. _Ancient hag, eh? Ha, I'll have to remember that for next time that old bat says something annoying._

He walked over to one of the walls near the fire pit and sat cross legged with his back against it. When the setting of the pot ordeal was finally over the two women sat down on opposite sides of the fire, and it didn't go unnoticed by Inuyasha how Kagome walking around from where she had been standing to sit on the side nearest him.

"So what did ye come to speak with me about?"

"Keade, I was hoping that you would tell me all you know about the Sacred Jewel."

The old woman's face fell slightly into a more serious expression and she turned her head to gaze into the fire.

"Why do ye inquire about the Sacred Jewel?"

"Because I have a piece of it."

Kagome produced the palely gleaming pink shard from her small red pouch.

"And because I believe that the demon attack on this village was because of my having this jewel piece."

Several seconds passed and just as Inuyasha was about to lose it from the heavy silence reigning over them, the old woman spoke.

"Strangely enough, ye are not the only ones to ask about the jewel recently."

Both Kagome and Inuyasha had varying reactions of surprise.

"Who else ask-"

"Inuyasha-sama! Inuyasha-sama!"

Interrupted a high, springy male voice that caused both Hanyou to jump slightly. The air was suddenly filled with a loud sucking sound and Inuyasha abruptly slapped his own cheek, then lowered his hand to gaze into it.

"Myoga, what are you doing here? I thought you were tending to my Old Man's grave?"

"His tomb, yes. But there is no time for explanations, Inuyasha-sama! Lord Sesshomaru has attacked your father's tomb and is now on his way here as we sit speaking!"

"What?! Why would he be coming here!?"

"...It may have something to do with what he found at your father's grave, or more specifically, what he did not find there. But he is on his way to where you are regardless, Inuyasha-sama!"

"Where I am?"

The confusion on his face melted into wide-eyed realisation and he was on his feet in a flash.

"Which direction is he coming from?"

"The South, as I did because it is a direct line from where the tomb is to her-"

"Kagome, we're leaving!"

"Where are we going?"

She stood while stuffing the shard back into the little red bag and putting it away.

"What? Who are these people you are with, Inuyasha-sama?"

Myoga said people, but his eyes rested solely on Kagome and Inuyasha had to bite back a growl that would lead them into a conversation that he didn't wish to have right now...or ever with Myoga.

"Never mind that, come on!"

Inuyasha exploded out the hut's reed door and made a bee-line for the village's edge with Kagome sprinting after him, at a very fast but possible pace for a human. The wind was now blowing quite strongly and leaves and twigs were being picked up to be sent flying by the white and red blurs as they left the village and shot through the forest. As soon as they were a good distance from the village Inuyasha halted and turned to her, nearly causing her to slam into him.

"Go to the cave and stay there until I come back."

"What, why?!"

"You can't be here when Sesshomaru appears and if you go to the cave now, he won't know you're here!"

"Why does that matter, I thought he was your brother? Isn't he another Hanyou like you?"

Inuyasha gave her an incredulous stare and his mouth fell open a little before he managed to find his voice again.

"Sesshomaru, a Hanyou!? Are you mad?! He's a full dog demon and he will kill you if he catches you here!"

"Well how was I supposed to know?! I assumed that since he was your brother, he would be a Hanyou too! You never told me anything about him before!"

"You never asked, and what the Hell does it matter?! Did you not just hear what I said, he'll kil-"

There was a sudden surge of Yōkai aura that swept over them like a tidal wave and both Hanyou froze at its raw power. Inuyasha broke free from the almost paralyzing force first and shoved Kagome back towards a huge, towering tree with large twisting roots.

"Hide there now!"

She didn't argue this time and was around to the tree's other side in two fear aided bounds just as the aura swelled. Inuyasha spun to see a tall, white-clad emerge from the woods, he tensed into a ready stance as the other merely continued its stately walk.

"Sesshomaru!"

"Ah, so you remember your big brother after all."

"What are you doing here, Sesshomaru?"

"Inuyasha, I would have thought that after our last meeting you would have learned to speak more respectfully to your superiors."

Sesshomaru regarded him for a few seconds when his eyes suddenly narrowed and Inuyasha saw him inhale a little deeper and slower than he had been. _He's trying to pick up a scent, but he already knows mine and it's really windy. Why would he-_ Inuyasha stiffened and his eyes widened slightly, then they narrowed and he growled low in his throat. _How the Hell would he be able to smell her, he can't right? Her scent is long gone in all of this wind, so he must be smelling something else._

"Inuyasha, even though you are only a Hanyou, I would think that you would be capable of defending the small and remote territory entrusted to you by our late father. However, it would appear that you cannot as I detect wolf in the air. Can you truly not even protect this far in against them?"

 _Crap. Think fast!_

"Is that what you came all the way down here for, to check on this little bit of woods and sneer at me?"

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at him and his face grew harsher.

"Fool! I am not as idle as that! I came to ask you the location of our father's grave."

"His grave? Why should I know where that is?!"

"Father always said that we know the location of his grave when we saw it, that it would be visible yet invisible."

"I don't know what you're talking about, and even if I did, I sure as Hell wouldn't tell you!"

Sesshomaru's face smoothed out again to it's normal impassive look, his mouth barely moving as he spoke to himself while staring at Inuyasha.

"I see, then it can't be helped."

Inuyasha's ears twitched as he heard the quietly spoken words and he frowned even more in confusion. There was movement on Sesshomaru's left, but Inuyasha knew what it was even before it spoke.

"Insolence! You will tell everything you know about the grave to Lord Sesshomaru, you worthless Hanyou!"

Pipped up the squawky voice of the imp that insisted on following the great Dog Demon before Inuyasha, he couldn't remember whatever its name was and frankly he didn't give a damn.

"The Human Head Staff lead us to you, so you must know about the grave! Speak now and Lord Sesshomaru may not kill you horribly for your outrageous and offensive behavior!"

"Then there must be something wrong with your staff, because I don't know anything about that grave!"

"Imposible, the staff is never wrong! Sesshomaru-sama, shall I deal with this offensive creature for you?"

Sesshomaru had just been staring at Inuyasha the whole time and seemed to be completely ignoring the conversation until whatever he had been thinking became clear. He took a step towards Inuyasha, his face again only impassive.

"You do know something about it, Inuyasha."

"What?! No I don't!"

"Something that renders our father's grave visible yet invisible to us."

 _What the Hell is he on about?! I've already told him I don't know anything about the grave, so what-_ His eyes widened slightly as a sudden thought occurred to him. _Does he mean that black thing that came out of my eye? But how could that lead to a grave, it's just a tiny thing?_

 _Kagome_

That was definitely a Dog Demon, and he was solidly the single most powerful demon she had ever been in the presence of. She peered around the tree to look at Sesshomaru and Inuyasha as they spoke to each other and although she would never tell Inuyasha, she thought that they both looked rather similar. She stiffened as she heard Sesshomaru say something about a wolf, but Inuyasha instantly turned the conversation to something else and she released a little sigh of relief as it was not persuaded.

"Pay close attention, Kagome. One must be ready to move at a moment's notice, not just for your safety, but for Inuyasha-sama's as well."

She stiffened again, then looked down at her shoulder in surprise.

"Myoga?! What are you doing here, I thought that you had been with Inuyasha?!"

"It seemed better to retreat to behind the tree with you and get out of the crossfire, leaving Inuyasha to do as he will."

Another voice popped up the the Dog Demon conversation and Kagome looked back around the tree. The voice belonged to a little toad-imp like thing with huge bulging yellow eyes and a beak like mouth, that was less than half the size either of the other demons.

"Who is that?"

"That is an imp named Jaken, a loyal follower and henchman of Lord Sesshomaru. His staff, the Human Head Staff, is dangerous, so keep an eye on it."

Kagome nodded, her attention pulled back to the conversation on the other side of the tree with the loud shouts of Jaken and Inuyasha.

"The Human Head Staff lead us to you, so you must know about the grave! Speak now and Lord Sesshomaru may not kill you horribly for your outrageous behavior!"

"Then there must be something wrong with your staff, because I don't know anything about that grave!"

"Myoga, why is Sesshomaru looking for their father's grave?"

"I have my suspicions, but I do not know for sure. I only know that Sesshomaru attacked the tomb of their father's that I was guarding, but the urn was not there and it never has been."

"Well why-"

"You do know something about it, Inuyasha."

There was a dangerous undercurrent to Sesshomaru's words and Kagome whipped her back around to look, eyes slowly growing wider as her dread and fear for Inuyasha grew.

"What? No I don't!"

"Something that renders our father's grave visible yet invisible to us."

There was silence for a few seconds and then Sesshomaru moved impossibly fast, suddenly holding Inuyasha up in the air by the throat with the claws of his other hand posed to slice into him.

"You will tell me."

Inuyasha moved his arms as if to attack Sesshomaru and the full Dog Demon's free hand was a blur of motion as it cut into Inuyasha's chest. Kagome felt herself moving out from behind the tree. She knew she wouldn't be able to beat this demon even if she managed to catch him by surprise, but all she could see was Inuyasha being held up by his throat and attacked.

"Wait, Kagome! Don't interfere or we'll both be killed!"

She heard Myoga protest from her shoulder as she stood, but she ignored him and continued moving.

"What's this?"

Sesshomaru voice washed over her as a threatening growl from Inuyasha rent the air and she stepped forward to launch herself at Sesshomaru.

There was a soft ringing sound accompanied by what was like the drip of a tear into a still pool of water, and then a bright purple light suddenly flashed through the clearing. Sesshomaru dropped Inuyasha and everyone looked down at the tiny glowing pearl that lay in the grass between the two brothers. The shriveled old man's head on Jaken's staff started laughing from where it was in the imp's hands and a yawning black hole fringed in white appeared above the pearl.

"The old man laughs! The portal to the true tomb is now open!"

The imp crowed and Kagome froze in place as she felt a surge of power from within the portal.

"W-what?"

Sesshomaru glanced down at the shocked expression on Inuyasha's face.

"So you were entrusted with it unknowingly."

Sesshomaru walked until he stood directly in front of the black hole and without looking back, barked out, "Jeken!" The little thing instantly obeyed by running over to him and together they leapt into the portal.

As soon as they were gone Kagome ran over to the still sitting Inuyasha and Myoga leapt from her shoulder to his.

"Inuyasha-sama, hurry and enter the portal before it closes! Lord Sesshomaru intends to take sole possession of your father's treasure and it is not intended for him!"

"I don't care about that!"

Kagome stared at Inuyasha in shock. _He doesn't care? How would he say that after everything his Father did?!_

"Don't say such things, Inuyasha-sama!"

Inuyasha was glaring at Myoga and not paying her the slightest bit of mind, so she marched up to him while trying poorly to hide the sudden anger she felt swelling up inside.

"Why should I care-"

"Baka!"

He looked at her in irritation and confusion that was rapidly turning into anger.

"What?! How am I-"

"Where did you get that?!"

She pointed to the still glowing pearl with a finger as she came to a halt right in front of him.

"It just sort of fell out of my eye earlier!"

"Why was it there?"

"I don't know!"

"BECAUSE WHATEVER THIS TREASURE IS WAS LEFT TO YOU!"

She screamed in his face, hot tears welling up in her eyes as she did. Inuyasha just stared at her dumbfoundedly.

"You can't just let Sesshomaru have your father's treasure because your father wanted it to be yours, otherwise he would have given the entrance to Sesshomaru."

She turned towards the portal and sprinted over to it.

"Hey, Kagome!"

She half stepped, half jumped in and was instantly surrounded by strange shifting purple light. A few seconds later Inuyasha appeared by her side, his face showing annoyance but his eyes were filled with concern.

"Sesshomaru's in here somewhere, you know."

"I know! That's why we have to teach him a lesson by beating him to whatever it is your father left for you! He has neither heart nor tears in him, he's unforgivable!"

* * *

 **As a side note, I never really understood the whole "black pearl" thing. Can any of you explain it to me? Because here are my thoughts on it.**

 **As it is in the original story (manga) and shown (anime).**

 **The Black Pearl leads to where Inuyasha's father's skeleton is, which has Tessaiga in it and he made this sword to protect Inuyasha's mother with and to someday give to his weaker Hanyou son. I understand that much, what I don't understand is how Inuyasha was suppose to get to the sword himself. He doesn't know that the pearl is in his eye and he clearly hadn't ever heard of the clue that Sesshomaru remembers and uses to discover the pearl, so how? It was in his freaking eye! In the manga Sesshomaru literally has to dig it out of Inuyasha's eye to use it, what if Inuyasha had died as a child and never got to use the sword? Or what if he just never learned of its existence and spent however long his life would be running away from stronger demons because he didn't have the power to fight back even though it was right there?**

 **I'm just saying, I have no idea how Inu's Father thought that he would ever get the pearl out of his eye to then use it to collect his sword. Was their father really planning that Sesshomaru would "help" Inu get the sword, because if he was I would really question how much he really loved Inu. :( Because I can't really see Sesshomaru being on-board to help anyone like that, especially his bastard, half-human brother. Nor can I see Inu being like "Yeah, it's totally ok for you to stick your claws into my eye to get the handy pearl that father left me." I mean, one of the whole reasons that their Father left Sesshomaru the sword that he did was so that he couldn't use** **Tessaiga against Inu.**

 **OK, rant over! Thank you for reading it if you did, thoughts on it?**

* * *

 **A HUGE thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, and favorited this story so far!**

 **Reviews from last chapter.**

.X : **Maybe Kaede does, I guess only time and the next chapter/s will tell! I'm glad that you find this story interesting and hopefully we'll get to Koga sometime in the next several chapters! He's so funny and I love his rivalry with Inuyasha!**

StormGemini : ***blushing* Aww, thank you! Reading your sweet review for chapter 10 makes me feel _REALLY_ guilty about making you all wait so long for the next chapter. :( Gomen nsai! *bows with tear-filled eyes***

Guest : **Thanks? I don't quite know how you meant that "ok" as your review, but I will look** **at it as you thought that the story was good! :)**

Leave a review and I'll thank you too!

 **Best wishes till next time! (which will not be as long as the wait was last time!)**


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